Coal in the Eko?

[deerefanatic]

Hey guys.... Haven't been on here in a while..... Heating season is coming to a close..... I made it through a winter with my EKO 60, without storage and with poorly dried wood (most was in the 30% range).... Burned roughly 18 full cord heating the house, my 2000 sq foot heated shop, the milkhouse, and about 100 gallons/day of HOT HOT (170 ish) water in the milkhouse.... Not too bad all things considered.....

But, I'm thinking of maybe getting some coal to use next year in the real cold temps.... I know when it gets down below zero, my storage won't hold me overnight.... Longer fires will be necessary and that's when I'll be really chucking the wood.... If I could use coal during that time, even if just at night, it'd be very handy and cut down my wood consumption......

So, can bituminous coal be burned in a downdraft gassifier? Seems so, as bituminous is considered "dirty" because of the high amount of volatiles in it.....

What do you guys think?

 

[BulldogAcres]

If I have a question about my EKO 40 I email a technition at EKO-Vimar the makers of the boiler. I get a reply in two or less days. Email Kamil Wygoda at [email protected]

 

[deerefanatic]

Well. I'll do that. I was hoping for some comment from folks here..... I kinda have a feeling I know what EKO's going to tell me..... That these boilers are designed for wood and as such, should only burn wood....... But we'll see.

Plus, I wonder if being from Poland, if they are familiar with the coal types here in the US?

 

[mrhaney]

does your boiler have shaker grates and forced draft from below and also is the shakers cast iron if you have that than it should be able to burn coal once you burn coal you will quit cutting wood, 30% hotter constant btu and 1/2 the consumption
but make sure the mfg says the stove can burn it

 

[deerefanatic]

No, the EKO is a downdraft gassifier..... Air is introduced at the top of the firebox, and blown down through a slot in the floor of the firebox. The floor is a refractory (firebrick) material with passageways inside it... The refractory gets very hot due to the fire directly above it. Air is blown through the passageways and preheated, then introduced into the slot where the smoke and volatile gasses from the firebox are being pushed, causing them to ignite..... these igniting gasses go into a refractory chamber where they burn, then go through a smoke-tube heat exchanger to heat your boiler water.......

 

[Sting]

First off

Where are you going to get Bit Coal with in reasonable distance of Ladysmith?

 

[mrhaney]

here is a link to coal contacts for wi,i have coal delivered to my place from 270 miles away the trucking bill is 20.00 per ton and the coal is 100.00 per ton ,trucking bill is cheap!!

http://www.yellowpages.com/wi/coal?g=+WI&q=Coal+

 

[deerefanatic]

The supplier I found is in Lacrosse, WI. Alpha coal.... They will sell small loads by the ton.......

 

[Sting]

Thank-you But I am on the east side of the state - 200 miles one way.

Are they under 100 a ton for truck loads?

 

[deerefanatic]

I don't know.. I was planning on getting it myself with my 1ton flatbed and flat trailer.... So about 5-6 tons at a time.... But, I believe last fall I was quoted $98/per ton in 1 ton increments......

I'm trying to figure if I ought to just pony up and buy anthracite in bulk straight from PA and have it trucked....

 

[JustWood]

Pretty sure there is a mine in cenral Ill. Don't remember the name but I've heard about them.

 

[deerefanatic]

Yep...... I'm itching to get this to work.... I'm sick of messin' with wood.......

I need to make some phone calls this week........ Buying straight from the mine is the way to go....

 

[mrhaney]

i buy a semi load at a time about 30 tons last me about 2 1/2 to three years $ 3600.00 13,900 btu per lb smoke free ,good luck

 

[JustWood]

If coals ok to use in an eko try small amounts at a time mixed with wood gradually increasing the amount of coal per load till you figure it out otherwise you may get frustrated and give up. I put a layer of wood in then some coal and top off with wood.

 

[deerefanatic]

i buy a semi load at a time about 30 tons last me about 2 1/2 to three years $ 3600.00 13,900 btu per lb smoke free ,good luck

Is that for anthracite or bituminous? Where are you getting it from? This is sounding good......

That price include the trucking too?

 

[deerefanatic]

If coals ok to use in an eko try small amounts at a time mixed with wood gradually increasing the amount of coal per load till you figure it out otherwise you may get frustrated and give up. I put a layer of wood in then some coal and top off with wood.

Sounds good... I may just have to buy a little coal and try it out..........

If I go the bituminous route, I'll have to buy a ton... But, if I go anthracite, I can by just a few bags which would make for cheap experimenting.......

 

[Sting]

If your going to burn Ant Tracks coal you better do it in an appliance that was designed to burn Anthracite. Same if your going to burn southern Illinois Bituminous coal. Now if you could find an Iron Fireman or Combustioneer stoker in good condition ... well if you could. EFM is experimenting with a model to burn Bit coal but they are still fooling around with that. Trucking in from NEPA -- hummm I think I would burn NG first.

 

[mrhaney]

heres a pdf of coal in ky and its bit ,just go to yellowpages.com and put your state in then under search type in coal if you find it within 200 miles its affordable ,my coal that i get is 120.00 per ton delivered from 270 miles one way eastern ky bit,in 30 to 40 degree weather i load my stoker once every 8 to 10 days ,5- 15 degrees load every 3 to 5 days, sorry but it wont let me load the pdf of coal contacts in ky ( 31 in this pdf ) if anybody wants a copy of it e mail me

 

[mrhaney]

sting wil-burt still sells the stoker assy that they put in the combustioneer around 4500.00,and theres two other companies that build bit stoker boilers one is in canada which is what i have and the other is portage and maine

 

[deerefanatic]

burning natural gas would be great..... But I live in the middle of nowhere!

I all depends on how much my total cost is... I have that DOE spreadsheet calculator which makes life a little easier when crunching the numbers.......

Yah, I figured I'd need a special boiler to burn Anthracite......

As a side note. I got an email back from the tech at Eko. He said that as long as it's a "brown coal" it will burn just fine....... What the heck is a "brown coal" ?

 

[deerefanatic]

Well, a quick google search reveals that brown coal is what is known here in the US as lignite........ So, bituminous is out.........

Looking more and more like I oughta just go straight to anthracite..... I'm going to make some phone calls today and see what I can work out for price......

 

[Sting]

Well, a quick google search reveals that brown coal is what is known here in the US as lignite........ So, bituminous is out.........

Looking more and more like I oughta just go straight to anthracite..... I'm going to make some phone calls today and see what I can work out for price......

I sent you a PM!

 

[Sting]

sting wil-burt still sells the stoker assy that they put in the combustioneer around 4500.00,and theres two other companies that build bit stoker boilers one is in canada which is what i have and the other is portage and maine

Sure they do - but have you attempted to get one? -- last time I asked, the entire production was going under boilers already sold.

So put it together -- 4500.00 for just the stoker and you still need a boiler???????

Yeah -- that's just what I want a 9 to 12 K investment in (only) a bit burning appliance --- NOT

 

[mrhaney]

sting your absolutely right its a large investment to spend 12-15 k on a system if your only heating a 1800 sq ft home and you'll never recoup the investment but if your heating a poultry house and burning 38,000.00 per season in propane and your profit's are going out the window and you can spend 20,000.00 for a complete install and burn 9 to 11 k in coal a season without using any propane than it don't take long to recoup the investment or a multi-building ag operation ,aircraft hangar ,home shop and milk house ,these applications are for large heating capacity ,stokers are proven dependable over the last 75years and there is a lot of moving parts that's why there expensive if bit coal don't work for you or not available than burn gas , oil or wood but they do work for a lot of people who have access to the fuel and the fuel not going away anytime soon,a lot of our customers install a wood boiler to subsidise there heating needs and after a couple of years with there new hobby of cutting wood decide they want some automation and want to be able to leave for the weekend with out having there heat go off so they change over ,for me i like my application and it works, but its not for everybody

 

[juddspaintballs]

I'm within driving distance of picking up Antracite straight from the mines and I have cast iron grates in my OWB so that I can burn coal. I also have a dump trailer with a 5 ton axle. I think next season I'll be using wood and coal as I find it necessary.