Jump to content

A different type of coal


blackrose

Featured Posts

 

 

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....

 

And it smells nice in our back cabin stove. Delicious, together with a nice single malt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those German coal bricks burn well in the back cabin 'Effing' one will drop in nicely they last a long time start with a few bits of wood and a fire lighter.

 

That's interesting. I thought only small briquettes burned well in a small box. Doubt if you get one into a "Premier' firebox though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

That's interesting. I thought only small briquettes burned well in a small box. Doubt if you get one into a "Premier' firebox though.

Once you have the bottom lit they just burn upwards slowly if you wish. I've never seen them sold in the UK I've always brought them back from Germany, the ones I have just fit in the 'Fffing'. Next time I see John Jackson I might ask him if he see's a market for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once you have the bottom lit they just burn upwards slowly if you wish. I've never seen them sold in the UK I've always brought them back from Germany, the ones I have just fit in the 'Fffing'. Next time I see John Jackson I might ask him if he see's a market for them.

 

Jacko passes us regularly. I'll ask him too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once you have the bottom lit they just burn upwards slowly if you wish. I've never seen them sold in the UK I've always brought them back from Germany, the ones I have just fit in the 'Fffing'. Next time I see John Jackson I might ask him if he see's a market for them.

meantime you can test them at a fairly pricey £12 for 10 from good ole amazon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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?

Thanks for finding that out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

 

 

Snip

 

I know. I was just saying.

 

N

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I'm back on the boat and burned the block of coal. I don't know how my brother does it but I couldn't light it with a firelighter.

 

It doesn't last 20 hours either so perhaps his stove is just burning them very slowly?

 

Anyway, it puts out a decent amount of heat, but I don't think it really has any advantages over the ordinary smokeless we get here - apart from being a lot cleaner to handle.

 

For that reason alone, if it was available locally and reasonably priced I would buy it.

Edited by blackrose
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its brown coal, a low grade coal that is the constituents of coal that are only part way through the process of turning into the black stuff. Dug up a few million years too early, and Germany has a lot of it under das farter land. I have burnt those blocks about 5 years ago, but I can't remember what they were like, I can't have been impressed and they soon dissapeared from the shops, so I guess no one else was either. The only benefit is they are easy to store and light weight.

Edited by waterworks
Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to Wikipedia, peat is converted into this stuff (lignite/brown coal), which is converted into sub-bituminous coal, which is converted into bituminous coal, which is converted into anthracite. So there you go; it is coal rather than peat, but only just.

 

Also according to Wikipedia, although brown coal in its natural state is indeed low grade, 'densified' brown coal that has been processed to remove moisture is regarded as a black coal equivalent fuel.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignite

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for posting these up Blackrose. If they do stay in for a good few hours then a packet off Amazon for £12 will be a good buy to use one as an overnight top up for the stove, It could even solve the age old problem of trying to keep the stove lit overnight that many folk have problems with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for posting these up Blackrose. If they do stay in for a good few hours then a packet off Amazon for £12 will be a good buy to use one as an overnight top up for the stove, It could even solve the age old problem of trying to keep the stove lit overnight that many folk have problems with.

 

Might be worth a try. As I said, purely in terms of how long they stay in or heat output then on my stove there are no advantages over ordinary smokeless, but perhaps they'll stay in longer on smaller stoves?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It must be lower heat output than coal nuts, so what does one pack weigh ? I can't see £12 a pack is going to be better value than coal at £10 x 25 kg.

 

Edit.

 

Just had a look on Amazon and its 10kg for £12.50. Which makes it totally uneconomical.

Edited by waterworks
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Just had a look on Amazon and its 10kg for £12.50. Which makes it totally uneconomical.

 

but not if used mearly as an overnighter to keep the stove from dying.

 

Ours is a large 12kw double door job and to keep it in overnight you have to bank the coal up in a large measure which is a waste of coal burning away merrily to itself just so its slightly warmer in the morning when you get up.. If just one of those will stay in overnight that would be quite a saving on our normal use.

 

in this cold weather 10kg only lasts us 24hrs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes may well be lignite, brown coal from Germany - but a word of warning.

We bought some to try from a supermarket in France.

We put a couple of blocks on to burn overnight. When we came to fire up in the morning we could literally hear the moisture / goo bubbling and boiling in the flue. I think it's ok to burn it hot as the vapours burn off (I believe it is or was burned in power stations) but in our experience it was very dirty and a recipe for a clogged up flue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

but not if used mearly as an overnighter to keep the stove from dying.

 

Ours is a large 12kw double door job and to keep it in overnight you have to bank the coal up in a large measure which is a waste of coal burning away merrily to itself just so its slightly warmer in the morning when you get up.. If just one of those will stay in overnight that would be quite a saving on our normal use.

 

in this cold weather 10kg only lasts us 24hrs

I can't see its likely that one of those will magically burn all night. It defys the laws burning stuff. 10 kilos should burn overnight if your stove is airtight and the air control can be turned right down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It must be lower heat output than coal nuts, so what does one pack weigh ? I can't see £12 a pack is going to be better value than coal at £10 x 25 kg.

 

Edit.

 

Just had a look on Amazon and its 10kg for £12.50. Which makes it totally uneconomical.

 

Why would it be lower heat output than nuts? Not sure where you're getting that from? Anyway, that wasn't my experience when I tried it.

 

I think some people have got the wrong end of the stick in this thread. I didn't start the thread in order to suggest that this coal was an economical or practical alternative to the coal we buy in this country, I was just commenting out of interest on a different kind of coal that's available in other countries. If it was widely available from coal merchants here in the UK it would imagine it would be a lot cheaper than the Amazon price.

No one has mentioned the stove.

What a pig ugly carbuncle.

No one has mentioned the stove.

What a pig ugly carbuncle.

 

So adamant he said it twice!

 

I think it's some sort of convection stove - he has one in each room and they look quite old to me - 1940s or 50s?

Edited by blackrose
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Lignite, often referred to as brown coal,[1] is a soft brown combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat content. It has a carbon content around 6070%.[1] "

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.