[Stoves] Small Scale Charcoal/Ash Screening

[Woodstoves56 at juno.com]

I burn wood for heating the house using an EPA certified fireplace insert.
The wood species is mostly ash, and hardwoods.  The burning wood rests on an
insulated firebrick bed located in the bottom of the stove.  After the stove
has cooled overnight, there is a mix of approximately 2/3 ashes to 1/3
charcoal left.  

 

I found that an easy way to screen the ashes from the charcoal is by using a
cylindrical mesh cone.  The mesh material is ¼” galvanized hardware cloth.
The top opening measures 12” in diameter, the length is 24” which tapers to
a closed point on the bottom.  The cone can be easily made by drawing a
template onto the flat wire mesh, cutting out the pattern, and rolling it
into a cone shape.  I used bent steel wire pieces to clip the edges
together.

 

The cone is filled 2/3 with the ash/charcoal mixture.  Using one hand on
each side of the cone top, the cone is shaken vertically until all of the
ash and charcoal fines fall through the screen.  (Usually takes about 30
seconds)  The remaining screened charcoal  is dumped from the cone into a
fireproof sealed charcoal receptacle. (Just in case there are any live coals
in the mix).  The charcoal is dry and ready for use.

 

This simple method works well.  I have yielded several hundred pounds of
charcoal per heating season.  The char is good value and smokeless, used for
cooking and grilling.   The charcoal pieces are usually 1” or less in size,
so a ¼” stainless steel mesh is used as a fire grate inside the charcoal
stoves and grills that are used for cooking. 

 

I would be interested to hear how others process their stove “tailings” 
..

 

 

Jim T.

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