Just curious has anyone here added coal to there running system ? (wood coal ) mix ? Just curious. Done with my guiding season here in Alaska and itching to get started building.reading alot of posts and thinking ahead.
Coal gasification has been around for a long time. It is slightly different than woodgas, so don’t toss a bunch of coal into your wood gasifier, it won’t be pretty.
Coal has a lot of nasties in it which are hard on a gasifier, particularly the sulfuric acid which will eat out the gasifier from the inside. Also it tends to slag and form clinkers. Given that it often costs money as opposed to free wood, and is a non-renewable fossil fuel, it’s a pretty clear choice for the wood.
Thanks Chris, Just wondered,I knew clinkers would be a issue, was just thinking about BTU’s and energy with a mix. What a great site keep up the good work.
Jonathan S melted one of his early hearths starting with coal making the mistake of thinking that it would act like charcoal. I’m not sure how one would manage to get the rocks that form to break up and go through the grate. Also as a base for using chips or pellets above it, I doubt the ash from that stuff would be able to pass through. All coal grates I have seen have teeth on them to grind up what remains. I have probably 500 pounds of coal stored here but it is more for emergency heating and blacksmithing. It is a fossil fuel of course but has it’s positive uses … ML
Was thinking about coal because my uncle heats with coal in Healy AK, he has a coal boiler. He buys 3/4 minis coal Small, after burning in the boiler the resulting ash is very fine powder, I understand there also is some clinkers small (rocks) that would have to be removed , my thought was mixing coal with the wood, not just coal. Maybe 10 or 20 % coal added. I certainly would not want to melt down my fire tube after all the work involved.Just asking questions. Thank’s Chris and Mike for your input.
A few years ago on a small gasifier I tried a few pieces of coal with my wood pellets and ended up bridging. I was running this into a flare not an engine. I don’t recall all the details from then other than it didn’t work for me. I do remember the coal did not seem to ignite for me.
I think with coal you are looking at a stationary unit; they would probably be too large for mobile applications.
In the books there are coal gasifiers that supposedly work well; they have a way to clear the grate of clinkers. The gasifiers are pressure instead of vacuum. The main one people think of, when referring to coal, is Dowson. A search for Dowson producer gas should pull up info and diagrams of them.
Another good reason why not coal.
http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/whistleblower/2008/07/09/the-ghost-of-the-gas-works/
Dave and Dennis ,What amazing contrast’s between the two articles. Wow !