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I Forge Iron

Proper storage of coal and safety


zkmcgrath

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No chance of self-igniting as long as you don't store the coal on the forge. There is no fear!! Store it inside or outside, the fines will move to the bottom. Mix the fines in a pail with water to a paste, add to the fire with hardball size balls.

 

Enjoy the smoke.

Neil

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Sorry Neil, but you are wrong. Coal storage piles DO spontaneously combust, and people in the business have to be aware of it. Older relatives who worked on the railroads that hauled coal to powerplants had to constantly watch for railcars that caught fire.

 

The risks are about the same as for shredded tires, compost and mulch, really. 

 

Small lots of less than a ton that are kept spread thin, very small risk of self-ignition. Very large, dense, wet piles, more so.

 

http://www.hss.energy.gov/publications/esh_bulletins/BULL0094.html

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G'Day Mate

I look after a fair sized piece of a coal mine every day. In simple terms coal is constantly oxidising and heat is generated in the process. It can be an issue on large stockpiles but to be honest no matter how you store a home sized pile you won’t have an issue.

Hope that helps

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I am new to smithing and have some concerns about coal. First what are the chances of my coal store self igniting? Secound what is the best way to store coal to prevent this?

I've had coal sitting around for years in various places. Never had a problem. You may want to keep it stored in some kind of container, buckets, whatever. If you have it in a pile at least throw a tarp over it.

 

Is perfectly safe to store and transport. I'd say about 10x safer than propane.

 

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I have about ten 100# Bags double piled in my lean too out back of the shop against a wood outdoor wall.   Hopefully that is ok?   Also, consider the bags that the coal is in if it is bagged.   The sun can break these bags down and when you go to move the bag it will just disintegrate.   So cover these with an opague tarp or otherwise keep the bag out of the sun.   Or use a spare chest freezer....   :P

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  • 3 weeks later...

Usually I keep the coal in a wood hopper, with boards across the top, spaced apart enough to let rain and snow melt through, but tight enough to stop the leaves. Growing up heating with hard coal, it was a 5-7 ton pile left outside and 6-10 wheelbarrow loads in a bin in the basement.  Almost nothing was stored inside durring the sumer to keep the dust down, and the left over was raked into a small pile in the bin, and was placed ontop of the next load in the fall.

 

As far as contained coal, I have (2) 50 gal drums of quality coal (for when I really need clean fire) that have been sealed with a clamp ring for over 4 years, the woven plastic bags on top of the coal (in the barrels) have no heat damage.  Then again where I got the coal was outdoors storage so the barrel lid is always dripping with condensation whenever I go into it (basically I have (2) 50 gallon coal filled terrariums).

 

The way I have been told, the best way to store coal is outside where it is kept in the shade and wet.  Only bring in what you will burn in a few weeks, and keep it damp (coal is porus so it will hold moisture and slow down the fire)

 

Rich C.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 11 months later...

The new Coal Bin is here! The new Coal Bin is here!

Got a deal on splitting a 500 pound coal order with a friend, 5 50 pound bags of Elkhorn on top of the 100 lbs already in a plastic trash can on the patio.  The bags are bio degradable and disintegrate, from the bottom up, (DAMHIKT-Don't Ask Me How I Know This). I'm fine with a large pile of coal on the patio but  the family not so much. Piled it into the wheel barrow and parked under cover while looking for a bin or materials to build one. Funny how often you find you need the wheelbarrow when its full of coal.

On one of many trips to the building materials recycling place, having passed on $25, 55 gallon drums painted decorator colors, found what I have to assume is the top 2 feet of a heavy plastic bin of some sort, $3.  Screwed some scrap 2x2 to the bottom edge, weathered scrap fencing nailed across the 2x2 and sawn off and the bin has a bottom. An old pallet in an out of the way corner of the yard and the coal has a place now.post-182-0-22175600-1412102237_thumb.jpgpost-182-0-19054500-1412102257_thumb.jpgpost-182-0-46343900-1412102272_thumb.jpg

Bin size is a perfect fit for an oil drip pan as a cover even. Cheap, used scrap and pallet wood and I got my wheelbarrow back.

 

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Coal in storage is actually oxidizing similar to rust, it generates heat and if left in a closed space it has a tendency to smolder. On the old coal ships, holds carrying coal were checked for temp rise. The battleships that used coal had fire suppression systems in their coal bunkers.

Peter

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Greetings NS,

 

If you store your coal in drums you will find after time when they rust internally that the small flakes end up in the coal.  Its makes nice lil sparks like your metal is burning..  The only way to remove them is a magnet.  Plastic drums are best...  Just my 2c

 

Forge on and make beautiful things

Jim

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