Coal briquettes

[jansman]

No ,not for the barbecue! Do you burn bituminous coal for heating? If so,you are aware of all that dust in the bunker,and the bottom of the scuttle.What to do with it? First gather your dust...

I use a plasterers trug,big and round.Tip in 6 measures of coal dust.Add 1 measure of sawdust.Mix.I use rubber gloves and get my hands in there.Add 3/4 measure cement.Mix thoroughly.

Then add some water.It needs to be just the wet side of dry. This one you will have to play with.Needs to stick together when squeezed.Remember that you can put it in but can't take it out! Mix it well.

I use a 3" flowerpot as a mould. You choose yours.Pack the mix well in and firm it.Tip it onto a board,let it dry.They will burn for an hour.

This takes me about 15 to 20 minutes,and uses waste.I always have cement in,and the sawdust is a by product of the chainsaw ,as we burn wood too!

[grenfell]

I don't tend to burn much coal , well hardly any really , but I can remember father making coal bricks back in the seventies. As it was we lived next door to a retired miner , the last pits by us closed early sixties , and he still received a regular dilivery . He was more than happy for father to go round to clear up the dust and slack every so often , kept his place tidier and our house warmer.

[Raven]

Perhaps a stupid question here but is it healthy to burn cement? Aren’t the particles bad for our lungs?

I love the idea in principle though, I am looking at trying to make some briquettes which will probably end in some sort of disaster now if me.

[jansman]

Perhaps a stupid question here but is it healthy to burn cement? Aren’t the particles bad for our lungs?

I love the idea in principle though, I am looking at trying to make some briquettes which will probably end in some sort of disaster now if me.

I would say that anything you breathe in,other than clean air,has to be bad for you.At this point in UK history,it looks like bituminous coal will be outlawed in the fullness of time.I shall continue to burn it until then ,as it packs a real punch in heating terms.

[grenfell]

Chimneys are or were built with cement based joints , fireplaces are built with it and it generally stays where it is although there must be some that becomes airborne over time but the risk must be miniscule in comparrison with what comes out of the coal itself , nitrous oxides , sulpherous oxides ,carbon mon and di oxides as well as far more particlates than derive from the cement.

[Raven]

What coal dust to shredded paper ratio do you do?

I tried making some sawdust briquettes as I had sawdust on hand and I do not think I got the consistency right :S

They are currently drying in a greenhouse, but I think they will crumble and break when I come to pick them up and store them.

I soaked the shredded paper for 36 hours, and used an equal amount of sawdust to paper.

Thanks in advance for any help

[jansman]

What coal dust to shredded paper ratio do you do?

I tried making some sawdust briquettes as I had sawdust on hand and I do not think I got the consistency right :S

They are currently drying in a greenhouse, but I think they will crumble and break when I come to pick them up and store them.

I soaked the shredded paper for 36 hours, and used an equal amount of sawdust to paper.

Thanks in advance for any help

You can buy those ‘paper log’ makers that compress wet, shredded paper. Look on eBay or amazon or such. Regarding my briquettes, I use sawdust ( chainsaw dregs to be fair).6 measures coal dust,1 measure sawdust, and about 3/4 cement. Mix well , dry , add water to just the wet side of dry , mix well and pack into moulds. I use 3” plant pot, and throw it out onto a board in the sun to dry. It works.

[Raven]

Thank you jansman.

Just spoke to my uncle who seems to think the problem is the type of paper I have used, something about newspaper is better as it is coarser and rougher.

Is there no way I can use the office paper? I don't buy newspapers anymore and i seems a bit pointless to buy them to shred them for briquettes.

ahh your trick may be the cement which binds it together. I have no access to anything like that unless I go out and specifically buy it. I was kinda hoping to use the waste products I had and for free to make them

[Nurseandy]

Another option for waste paper/magazines/newspapers is instead of mushing them & using the pulp to make briquettes is instead to just roll them up really tightly and slip a metal ring over them and throw them on the fire, much simpler & quicker.

[jansman]

Thank you jansman.

Just spoke to my uncle who seems to think the problem is the type of paper I have used, something about newspaper is better as it is coarser and rougher.

Is there no way I can use the office paper? I don't buy newspapers anymore and i seems a bit pointless to buy them to shred them for briquettes.

ahh your trick may be the cement which binds it together. I have no access to anything like that unless I go out and specifically buy it. I was kinda hoping to use the waste products I had and for free to make them

To be fair, my method is simply to use waste materials. I always have sawdust about, and always have cement in for running repairs. Nurseandy’s paper roll works too. I have used rolled newspapers and tied them with wire.