[TheForge] Water on your coal forge fire?

[Hochewa at aol.com]

To All,
I use water to control the size of my fire.  The coking temperature is a 
funny thing.  The water just may keep the surrounding coal "cool" enough to let it 
coke with burning it away.  
Putting the water on with a porous tin can seems to be the preferred method.  
I have tried keeping my coal in a bucket under water.  It works but it is a 
bitch if the temperature falls below freezing.   
The water probably does not enter into any reactions in the fire except if 
you pour it directly onto burning coke.   
I would consider the balance in BTU loss between having to evaporate some 
water and having a fire that is twice the size that you need.
Almost everybody does inject water into their propane forges and coal fired 
forges, too. All of it comes from the air that we burn.  This water does enter 
into the hottest part of the fire and it does react with the coal, coke and 
work.  At least a little.
The propane environment is also water rich as one of the combustion products 
is water.  A little hydrogen enters the reaction in a coal fire from the tars 
in the coal.
I burn charcoal all the time and never wet it purposely.  If the charcoal is 
a little damp going into the fire, it does explode in a shower of sparks.

My $.02,

Hochewa 



In a message dated 5/29/2004 5:19:03 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
davesmucker at hotmail.com writes:

> I am looking for information on the subject of using water on your coal
> forge fire for a future article for the AACB Newsletter.
> 
> 
> 
> Many folks do not use water or at most just a little bit - while others use
> quite a bit.  Why?  In our part of the country smiths who spent time with
> Francis during their formative years seem to use quite a bit of water to
> control their fire while many others I have watch do not.
> 
> 
> 
> I have read statements by some self-appointed blacksmith experts that
> putting water on your fire is stupid because it just wastes BTUs.  Is this
> really the case?  I don't think it is a waste of BTUs because I feel it aids
> in the production of coke.  Coke is what we really want to burn in our forge
> because of its high local BTU output and clean fire.  (If forming coke were
> just a waste of BTUs the steel industry would not go to all of the trouble
> of making coke - they would just use coal.)
> 
> 
> 
> I am also interested in the chemical reaction of water on hot / burning
> coal.  It generates CO as a gas (blue flame) and at one time was used as a
> production method for "town gas" before the wide spread availability of
> natural gas (methane).
> 
> 
> 
> How many of you use water on your fire and how much.  Why?
> 
> 
> 
> And I all ready know that most of you don't use much water in your propane
> forges.
> 
> 
> 
> Dave Smucker
> 
> Editor, AACB newsletter
>