Coal dust bricks again

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Jacob's dad
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by Jacob's dad »

Fender wrote: Sun Dec 09, 2018 3:24 pm
pat1027 wrote: Fri Dec 07, 2018 9:06 pm Out of curiosity though do coal dust bricks hold some shape as they burn or do they break up?
Right now I am working off some soft coal I don’t much like, because it doesn’t break up in the fire and is more difficult to use. I’m having to smash it into pieces before it goes into the firedoor.
I'll take it for my traction engine. Just deliver it to my house. : - )
Jacob's dad
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by Jacob's dad »

I don't have a big enough press at this time, but has anyone taken some coal dust and put it in a piece of pipe on a 100 ton press and pressed it into a brick? I know that they press brick pavers here in my area that way and they are a dry mixture when pressed together. I toured the plant and thought to myself, "will you try a pile of coal dust for me?", but I didn't ask. lol

I just burn it with the rest of the coal as others have said. If my dad made me sift coal as a kid I would still be at the coal pile sifting.
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PeterCraymer
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by PeterCraymer »

Don Saager uses the paper cups in part so it is part of the fire starter. He throws one or two in the firebox and then lights off the cup and viola - fire!
He gave me a couple to check out once and they burn just fine. He makes them bigger than I would like for my Allen 10-wheeler but no issues at all. I buy larger lump coal and break it to large walnut (with husk) sized lumps now just so I don't buy a half a bag of fines like with BS coal. I like the bigger pieces as they seem to keep the grates from plugging up. I still end up throwing away a bunch of small pieces and dust after breaking it down.

Peter
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John_S
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by John_S »

I built my coal hopper car with 1/4" opening wire mesh over the chutes out the bottom to let all fines work their way out as I pull it around. Having a readily available supply of really good blacksmith coal available in the area there's no reason to recover the fines and process them into useful burning fuel. Some of the folks in our group love to use them on HO, HO-N3, etc., layouts and will save what they can from the various buckets and whatnot lying around the roundhouse.
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Fred_V
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by Fred_V »

Don says he is now using toilet paper rolls. I'm now collecting those and egg cartons.
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by jamesjgould »

What about a liquid parrafin wax as a binder. That would add BTU value and burn good.
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Fred_V
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by Fred_V »

That may be a good idea. Would the wax coat the flues?
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pat1027
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by pat1027 »

Paraffin melts around 100°F. Would you end up with the paraffin melting too quickly? You could get a chunk of paraffin and toss it into the firebox.
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Fender
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by Fender »

That would make it an oil burner. Paraffin is a component of diesel oil.
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neanderman
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by neanderman »

Fred_V wrote: Mon Dec 10, 2018 8:15 pm I'm now collecting...egg cartons.
Pressed paper fiber, I assume (hope)?
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Fred_V
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by Fred_V »

neanderman wrote: Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:25 am
Fred_V wrote: Mon Dec 10, 2018 8:15 pm I'm now collecting...egg cartons.
Pressed paper fiber, I assume (hope)?
The egg cartons would be used as moulds. I think the paper tubes will be the best to use.
Fred V
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steamin10
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Re: Coal dust bricks again

Post by steamin10 »

There was a bug-a -b00 about some fire logs that used wax for a binder. When thrown in a hot fire they rendered out and the wax could run out of the bottom of a leaky stove. It was reported that several houses were damaged (smoke) and the product taken off the market as it was.
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