Homemade Sub-Bit Flatbed Stoker Utube Link

 
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SWPaDon
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Posts: 9857
Joined: Sun. Nov. 24, 2013 12:05 pm
Location: Southwest Pa.
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Clayton 1600M
Coal Size/Type: Bituminous
Other Heating: Oil furnace

Post by SWPaDon » Sun. May. 31, 2015 8:19 am

Glad to hear that your design is working, you are staying warm

 
unhippy
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Posts: 512
Joined: Mon. Dec. 27, 2010 1:59 am
Location: New Zealand
Stoker Coal Boiler: MK2 #1

Post by unhippy » Sun. Jun. 21, 2015 12:08 am

I went and got some more chip coal last weekend...960kg, about 2000ish lb.....anyway the lads at the mine said that the chip coal was a bit dirty (more fines than normal) due to the the wet weather we have had the wet coat is affecting their screening plant, and that it was from a different part of the pit from where it usually comes from.

I wasn't worried....my stove isn't affected much by fines....and the new coal has been feeding thru like normal....HOWEVER.....talk about clinker :mad: .....i haven't seen hard clinker like this ever.....it will bridge the gap between the end of the grate and the side of the stove (about 4") and then jam there.....the feeder is still feeding and the fire piles up at the back of the grate until it spills over the sides :mad:

i'm having to break the clinker off and clear it out of stokers gate channel about every 8 hours or so with all the dust getting out of the stove that comes with beating on things in there with the door open :P

newest important modification happening asap is to put a clinker breaker actuated by the feed block......that should fix it.

Its unreal how much different the clinker from this new coal is compared to the usual stuff.....the usual coal's clinker is a "soft" clinker....granola type clinker easily broker between your fingers......this new coal has a hard clinker that fuses into a block or bar the width and depth of the stokers grate channel......i hooked some out of the ash bin when I emptied it.....it takes significant effort to break.

temps locally as I write this....outside 36F....inside 71F.....snow forecast for tonight.....coal bin fill levels... 85% stoker bin....105% coal range bin.....bring on the snow!!


 
unhippy
Member
Posts: 512
Joined: Mon. Dec. 27, 2010 1:59 am
Location: New Zealand
Stoker Coal Boiler: MK2 #1

Post by unhippy » Thu. Jul. 16, 2015 7:22 am

Update on the clinker problem.....found that 'hard' clinker only happens when the coal is soaking wet.....if the coal is just damp or dry then the clinker is soft.

I had a bit of a think about the fact that it was only happening with wet coal.....i think the problem is caused by the water in the 'wet' coal turning to steam as it gets close to the fire.....the steam then contacts the char bed and is cracked into hydrogen and oxygen.....instant hotter fire.....hotter fire must be above the AFT of my coal.

Steam and glowing char do uncool things in underground coal fires....one mine I worked on years back had a old shaft from the 40's that was on fire.... one nightshift we found a new open hole on the surface that was sucking air in to feed the fire......so being ingenious little miner maintenance minions we redirected part of a run-off stream and pretty soon had a full 12 inch pipe's worth of water going down this hole....within a few minutes the smoke had stopped coming out of the old portal that was about half a mile away.....we thought "yay, we put out a fire that had burned for 60 odd years"......about a minute after that there was a column of flame about 1000ft high roaring out of the portal.....we shut the water off, dragged the pipe out of sight and ran away :D

 
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freetown fred
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Posts: 30293
Joined: Thu. Dec. 31, 2009 12:33 pm
Location: Freetown,NY 13803
Hand Fed Coal Stove: HITZER 50-93
Coal Size/Type: BLASCHAK Nut

Post by freetown fred » Thu. Jul. 16, 2015 7:46 am

:clap: toothy Ya don't want to get Mother Nature pissed UH. ;)

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