Burner power needed?

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KaYs3r

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Hi guys,

I'm making plans to build my 100 litter (+- 25 gallon) brew rig, and I need help to choose the burners.
In Portugal we don't have those huge burners like you do, but we have these:

ec342b890216dbfe95d3bf8b2062285aa31fe630_paellero-de-gas-butano.jpg


The seller says they have 13,5kW, is this enough?

Thank you.
 
That's HUGE........... almost 60 amps on 240 AC. I find it hard to imagine that they would sell burners that big. A typical American household electrical service is only 200 amps, and not so many years ago it was 100 amps. That's over 46 million BTUs It should boil your 25 gallons in about 35 minutes if you can keep heat loss to a minimum.

I'd love to see that puppy light up!! Watch your meter spin when you plug that in!! I have a 424 amp welder from the 60's that doesn't suck up that much power unless it's turned to max. Ever see 1/4" welding rod melt like butter?

I've started doing 30 minute boils to save time and energy. It appears to have no significant effect on the brews make. I of course adjust my hop additions, and there is a trivial loss in efficiency.... very trivial.


H.W.
 
That's HUGE........... almost 60 amps on 240 AC. I find it hard to imagine that they would sell burners that big.

It's Gas, not electric.
13.5 KW = 46063.917 BTU/hr.
46,000 BTU's is low for that big of a batch.
Are you running household natural gas, or propane?
 
It's Gas, not electric.
13.5 KW = 46063.917 BTU/hr.
46,000 BTU's is low for that big of a batch.
Are you running household natural gas, or propane?

Hi there,

I will run it on propane. What would be the minimum for my batch size?

Thanks
 
Hi there,

I will run it on propane. What would be the minimum for my batch size?

Thanks

Sorry for the delayed response.
I would search European Ebay for a 32-tip Wok Burner that looks like this:
JETC32P.jpg
 
Sorry for the delayed response.
I would search European Ebay for a 32-tip Wok Burner that looks like this:
No problem :)

Is this one better than the Banjo burner? The banjo is a lot cheapper from USA.

Thanks
 
I currently use the BG 14'S (large banjo's). They are really quiet, but when you turn them up for a large volume boil, they have a lot of flame roll out from the sides, and they are inefficient at that point.
The munti-tip burners are a little noisy, but when you turn them up, the flame is more controllable, and if all the flame stays in contact with the bottom of the pot, it makes them more efficient.
I'm getting ready to switch from propane BG 14's to NG 23-tip burner.
 
Kettle diameter matters.

The same setting that rolls around my 10g kettles on a bg-14 Blichmann burner is perfect for my 20g kettles.
The OP is talking even bigger - 30g minimum but probably something larger.

otoh, I think I've read of more folks removing multiple tips from those big jet burners than I have of folks wishing they had more tips...

Cheers!
 
My pot diameter is 50cm (+-20 inch).

I've read that the jet burners need less gas to run, but that they are harder to control the power of the flame.

I'll have to search for Banjo vs. Jet burner fight :)

Thank you all.
 
13.5kw is huge. I use 7kw and I can raise 20 gallons of water two degrees/minute (approximately). 1 BTU=1 DEGREE FARENHEIT INCREASE IN ONE POUND OF WATER. 20 gal x 8.4lbs = 168 lbs, so 168 btu's gives 1 degree rise? To raise 100 degrees (50 to 150) = 16,800 btu's? 1kw = 3,412 btu's so 7kw's x 3,412 = 23,884 btu's. 16,800/23,884 = 70.334 % x 60 min = 42 minutes?
 
13.5kw is huge. I use 7kw and I can raise 20 gallons of water two degrees/minute (approximately). 1 BTU=1 DEGREE FARENHEIT INCREASE IN ONE POUND OF WATER. 20 gal x 8.4lbs = 168 lbs, so 168 btu's gives 1 degree rise? To raise 100 degrees (50 to 150) = 16,800 btu's? 1kw = 3,412 btu's so 7kw's x 3,412 = 23,884 btu's. 16,800/23,884 = 70.334 % x 60 min = 42 minutes?

I'm guessing from your avatar that you use electric elements? If so, there's a huge difference in the performance of a gas burner and an electric element of the same power rating. The electric element is usually submerged in the liquid and you only really get losses through the kettle walls and top. With a gas burner you're doing well if you get 60 % efficiency, with some big burners it's more like 50 %. So the OP's 13.5 kW is probably going to perform similarly to your 7 kw element, but the OP wants to knock out ~25 gal and you you state a total volume of 20 gal. The burner might do the job, but it's not as powerful as you might think and he's unlikely to get as good performance as you do.

FWIW and as a point of reference, I do ~6.5 gal batches (~8.5 gal pre-boil) and my ~7 kW burner is about right for this size but won't handle too much more.
 
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