Visitors occasionally ask: "What do you
do with the ashes?" Its a fair question given that all coal contains a certain
amount of material which won't burn, generally referred to as ash.
By law, in the State of Connecticut, the
coal we burn must contain less the 2% sulfur. Another characteristic of our coal is
that it has a low volatile content, which means it produces little or (if the
fireman is doing a good job) no smoke.
Since ash generates no heat, it is to
our advantage to burn coal which is low in ash, ours generally runs between 8
and 10%, which means that if we burn about 500 tons per year we are left with
about 50 tons of ash per year. So, what is done with the ash? Years
ago, the railroads used it on their tracks for fill and ballast (e.g. - the Lyman Viaduct in Colchester).
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| Fireman Ron Olsen loads ash for return to Pennsylvania |
Today, it goes back where it came from:
the coal mine. A couple of times per year, the truck
that brings us a load of coal is loaded with ash which is returned to the
mine.
J. David
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