Eska Dryer

After going through the washing process, coal was conveyed by belt to the coal dryer at the Eska Mine, located east of Wishbone Hill and accessed by Jonesville Road in Sutton. This Carpenter Coal Dryer by McNally Pittsburg was used along with the Eska Coal Washery. Constructed of heavy-gauge steel, it has a housing 8 feet in diameter, 4 feet high, and 1.5 inches thick, with a domed steel-plated cover 1 foot high and a 3-inch steel shaft protruding from the top. The shaft supports a dome screen inside the dryer. The dryer was estimated to weigh 3 to 5 tons. A motor driven from the top produced centrifugal force of 1,850 revolutions per minute to reduce the moisture content in coal to 8 percent or 9 percent. The dry coal was removed by a chute under the dryer and conveyed to the storage bin.

Lazy Mountain, Alaska · United States