A different type of coal

[blackrose]

I've just come back from Germany and below is a photo of a block of coal that they have over there. It's about 6" long and they buy them in packs of 20 or so. It's much cleaner to handle then the stuff we have here and I think it's much cheaper too. I don't know if it's suitable for the smaller types of stoves we have on boats, but I brought one back with me and I'm going to try it when I get back to my boat.

 

 

This is a picture of a stove in my brother's flat. It stands about 6ft high and has a flue at the back.

Edited March 11, 2016 by blackrose

[zenataomm]

Is it manufactured?

It looks as if it's been cast from perhaps compacted coal dust or remnants.

[Theo]

I would have thought that breaking it up will make lots of dust and mess, ending up a much messier business than normal smokeless.

 

N

[blackrose]

Is it manufactured?

It looks as if it's been cast from perhaps compacted coal dust or remnants.

 

Yes, I don't think it comes out of the ground like that! The smokeless coal we buy here is also manufactured from coal dust, powder and binders isn't it?

I would have thought that breaking it up will make lots of dust and mess, ending up a much messier business than normal smokeless.

 

N

 

Why would you want to break it up? My brother just puts them into his stove whole and I will do the same when I try it.

Edited March 11, 2016 by blackrose

[Theo]

 

Yes, I don't think it comes out of the ground like that! The smokeless coal we buy here is also manufactured from coal dust, powder and binders isn't it?

 

Why would you want to break it up? He puts them into his stove whole and I will do the same when I try it.

It's a very large lump to burn on a boaty stove. Only one would fit on my stove though in a wide boat you could have a much bigger stove, perhaps. I am convinced that you cannot burn a single lump of anything on your stove!

 

N

[blackrose]

It's a very large lump to burn on a boaty stove. Only one would fit on my stove though in a wide boat you could have a much bigger stove, perhaps. I am convinced that you cannot burn a single lump of anything on your stove!

 

N

 

It's about 6" long. It would easily fit into a squirrel or a boaty stove of that size, but not a very small stove. My brother says he just gets them going with fire lighters without any kindling and then they burn for about 20 hours. He burns single lumps.

 

Perhaps you shouldn't be convinced about things on other people's boats. I've burned single lumps of wood on my stove before. Anyway, I will let you know how this block of coal burns on my stove tomorrow.

Edited March 11, 2016 by blackrose

[Chagall]

certainly would be easier to store and handle too ...I hope it works

 

 

is your brother up for handling mutli shipping orders?

Edited March 11, 2016 by Chagall

[blackrose]

I'll try burning it as a single lump tomorrow with a fire lighter, and if that doesn't work I'll put it on top of some kindling.

[dmr]

I bought some peat (turf!) in Ireland once that looked a bit like that. Maybe its German peat.

 

.............Dave

[blackrose]

It was in a plastic bag in my hand luggage yesterday and they x-rayed my bag twice. I think they were trying to see what it was!

I bought some peat (turf!) in Ireland once that looked a bit like that. Maybe its German peat.

 

.............Dave

 

Could be. He has no idea what it is - he just says it's coal. It's really hard and heavy.

certainly would be easier to store and handle too ...I hope it works

 

 

is your brother up for handling mutli shipping orders?

 

If it works I'll find out how much it is and whether it could be imported.

 

It is odd sometimes the different things you see when you go abroad. Sometimes it's the other way around. I have a friend living in Austria who says you can't buy brass compression fittings for domestic plumbing. Everything is either soldered or plastic push-fit.

Edited March 11, 2016 by blackrose

[peterboat]

Looks like lignite brown coal which if I remember was common in Germany when I was in the Army. Used to burn to powdery ash but not sure how clean it is? googled it it is a high polluter they are going to close down the power stations that use it if I have read it right

Edited March 11, 2016 by peterboat

[harve90]

Peat Briquettes i think

[dogless]

Our kid brought me some peat briquettes from Scotland that looked very like that.

I'll stick with Excel.

Rog

Edited March 11, 2016 by dogless

[Theo]

I would no more buy peat to burn than I would use it in the garden! It is desperately bad for the environment to dug up peat.

 

N

[churchward]

 

Yes, I don't think it comes out of the ground like that! The smokeless coal we buy here is also manufactured from coal dust, powder and binders isn't it?

 

Why would you want to break it up? My brother just puts them into his stove whole and I will do the same when I try it.

I would have thought it was just a different shaped brickett like we have just bigger. I remember something similar we put in the stove similar to the one in the picture when I lived in Germany for a short while in the 1980s. The stove took a long time to heat up from cold but it was a great heat reservoir once it was and quite efficient in the amount of coal it burned. The compressed bricks we used were coal not peat certainly.

Edited March 11, 2016 by churchward

[twbm]

[snipped] Maybe its German peat.

 

.............Dave

 

 

Peat Briquettes i think

 

Nah - that's French Pete. Owns a small builders merchants.

[blackrose]

I would no more buy peat to burn than I would use it in the garden! It is desperately bad for the environment to dug up peat.

 

N

Er... we don't actually know it's peat. It certainly doesn't look like peat to me.

 

I would have thought it was just a different shaped brickett like we have just bigger. I remember something similar we put in the stove similar to the one in the picture when I lived in Germany for a short while in the 1980s. The stove took a long time to heat up from cold but it was a great heat reservoir once it was and quite efficient in the amount of coal it burned. The compressed bricks we used were coal not peat certainly.

Yes, to me it looks and feels just like coal. Too hard and dense to be peat.

Edited March 11, 2016 by blackrose

[wonderdust]

http://www.drova.lv/en/black-coal-briquettes/

[Nightwatch]

Ah! German Peat. I know him well.

[blackrose]

http://www.drova.lv/en/black-coal-briquettes/

Looks like someone's already importing them.

[David Mack]

Maybe its German peat.

German Pete used to work for the National Trust on the South Stratford in the 1970s/80s. Alongside English Pete. They were known collectively as The Petes.

[cuthound]

Is English Pete AKA Pete MARSH?

[MtB]

I would no more buy peat to burn than I would use it in the garden! It is desperately bad for the environment to dug up peat.

 

N

 

 

Yes if you kept on digging it out you could end up with an absolutely massive hole, full of water. Almost as big as, say the Norfolk Broads....

[Chagall]

found these http://www.amazon.co.uk/BRIQUET-COAL-STOVES-FIREPLACES-PACK-y/dp/B00388FCFO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457724637&sr=8-2&keywords=coal+briquettes

[Peter X]

What the OP showed is a "REKORD" lignite briquette produced by these guys:

http://en.brikett-rekord.com/index.php/The_right_fuels.html

from open cast mining near Cottbus, at the eastern end of Germany. Here comes the blurb:

 

Lignite briquettes are pressed from dried, prepared lignite without the use of binding agents. In contrast to firewood, the factory-made fuel is characterised by its high degree of homogeneity and has a constant quality which is continuously checked by laboratories. Only low-emission lignite types of a particularly high quality are used to produce lignite briquettes.

The handy energy packs feature a substantially longer burning life compared to wood fuels and a very high calorific value. They release heat evenly and in a well controllable manner. Due to their high energy density, there is no need to constantly put on more lignite briquettes and embers last for many hours.

Lignite briquettes require more heat to start burning than wood does and it's best to ignite them on an existing fire bed. The combustion air flows around the briquettes from below through the grate at the bottom of the combustion chamber. They may be used in all closed fireplaces that have a grate and an ash pan. Their use requires examination and release by the manufacturer.

 

Sounds eminently suitable all round for a narrowboat stove, I'm sure we're all eagerly awaiting the test results.

 

I see that that drova.lv (in Latvia) charge 270 euros for a 900kg palette, and about 1600 euros to do a 24 tonne lorry delivery to the UK, so if the test goes well maybe one of the coal boats should give it a whirl?