solid fuel?

[poodge]

Hi pd's.I'm considering what to use as the fuel for my marine boiler.In "Starting in steam",Peter Arnot mentions "Caricook" .Is/was this the same sort of stuff that's sold these days as fire lighters?
Having had a sniff around the local emporium,apart from fire lighters,they also have charcoal tablets.Are these any use under a boiler?Are fire lighters any better than methylated spirits in liquid form?
I'm assuming here that the fire lighters are impregnated with meth.spirits,they smell the same.
I looked at Firebird's spirit burner,but that type takes a lot of space in front of the boiler to enable the burner to be inserted.Is there a reason why it couldn't go in from the front?
I briefly considered gas,but don't really feel confident making fittings to suit.
I'm nowhere near the point where I need to make a final decision on this,but it's as well to be prepared .
And no,I never was in the boy scouts
Thanks chaps.Regards.Hans.

[kiwimodeller]

Not sure what "Caricook" is or was but firelighters are not the right thing to use as they burn hot but do not last. Solid fuel tablets for camp stoves are better and this may be what the Caricook was used for. Having said that my experiments some years ago showed that solid fuel did not get up steam as fast or make as much pressure as using meths in a well designed burner. Meths burners are fine for small burners but in the long run or for bigger boilers and engines it is well worth going to the trouble of the Butane/Propane mix gas cylinders. Hope this helps, Ian.

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's.......pooge.....one of the many concepts of our PD site is to learn from each others postings  ...so if a member has a question  ...it should be kept within the same thread...to help all members

You have posted ......

Hi pd's.I'm considering what to use as the fuel for my marine boiler.In "Starting in steam",Peter Arnot mentions "Caricook" .Is/was this the same sort of stuff that's sold these days as fire lighters?
Having had a sniff around the local emporium,apart from fire lighters,they also have charcoal tablets.Are these any use under a boiler?Are fire lighters any better than methylated spirits in liquid form?
I'm assuming here that the fire lighters are impregnated with meth.spirits,they smell the same.
I looked at Firebird's spirit burner,but that type takes a lot of space in front of the boiler to enable the burner to be inserted.Is there a reason why it couldn't go in from the front?
I briefly considered gas,but don't really feel confident making fittings to suit.
I'm nowhere near the point where I need to make a final decision on this,but it's as well to be prepared .

The previous thread offering just a few days prior from 'steamboatmodel' Gerald is as below ...may offer a better understanding to you.............Derek 

Hi PD's.....pooge......
I looked up Heat of Combustion in Wikipedia;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_of_combustion
Methanol 9,800 BTU/lb
Ethanol 12,800 BTU/lb
Propane 21,700 BTU/lb
Butane 20,900 BTU/lb
Paraffin 19,900 BTU/lb
Coal (Anthracite) 14,000   
Coal (Lignite) 8,000 BTU/lb
Gasoline 20,400 BTU/lb

From looking at the above you would have to run almost twice the amount of alcohol as you would with Gas. Having said that I think you could still run alcohol, after all they ran most model steam engines on it or coal long before we has the gas. I have a camp stove that runs on alcohol and it boils the water in about the same time as my Butane/propane one does, even faster when the temperature drops.
Regards,
Gerald

[poodge]

Thanks,Ian,no fire lighters then.
Gerald,thanks for the reminder,I had read that thread.My question was directed more towards comparison between the solids.Hence the direct reference to "Caricook".
My post also brought up some other points,which I felt would hi-jack the previous thread.So I felt it better to start a new thread.Regards.Hans.

[steamboatmodel]

Hi Hans,
I think the Caricook is similar to the Esbit Fuel Tabs. I did find an address for them:
Carr & Day & Martin, Ltd.
Lloyds House
Wilmslow, Cheshire
England
Makers of Pypro Carricook Solid Fuel cooker and fuel tablets.
I haven't tried that brand, but have used both Esbit, heat tabs(compressed trioxain fuel U.S. Army surplus) and Sterno(gelled alcohol). They all will work, but I now tend to go with the gas burners as they are much cleaner.
Regards,
Gerald.