Application of the anthratube to the use of local anthracite coal

One or the characteristics of all anthracite coal, with its low volatile content, is its ability to burn completely in a small volume. Another characteristic and disadvantage of local, semi-anthracite coal is its high ash content. It is the authors' belief that local, semi-anthracite coal can be burned most effectively for domestic heating if the furnace design allows for these characteristics. With these facts in mind, it was decided that the Anthratube had excellent possibilities as a domestic unit for burning local coal. The Anthratube, by its compactness, takes full advantage of the first characteristic; with its ash-removing grate, it overcomes to a great extent the disadvantage of the second characteristic.

The purpose of this thesis was, then, to determine whether or not various sizes of local, semi-anthracite coal from the Merrimac seam could be successfully burned in the Anthratube. The coal used for this investigation was obtained from the Great Valley Anthracite Corporation located at McCoy, Virginia.

1. Pea size, local coal can be burned very successfully in the Anthratube. Overall boiler efficiencies of the unit with this size coal are high over a wide range of loads. Of the sizes of coal burned, pea size is most suitable for the Anthratube.
2. Buckwheat size, local coal canoe burned in the Anthratube with good results. The overall boiler efficiencies obtained with this size of coal are good, although not as high as those obtained with the pea coal.
3. The performance of the Anthratube with rice size, local coal is inferior to that achieved with pea and buckwheat sizes. The output of the unit is seriously limited when using this size.
4. Culm size, local coal cannot be burned in the Anthratube.