pluming 32 tip burners

[rubberhead]

iam pluming a one tier stand with three 32 tip jet burners 200,000 btu would i need a 200,000 btu regulator or a 600,000 btu regulator to run them all on a manifold...the stand is made for 55 gallon boilermakers

 

[Antler]

Bump for a great question. I'm curious myself. I'm thinking about building a 3 vessel setup like yours and think I'll be using the 10 tip jet burners, but would like to know how it's done right. I don't think btu's are related to regulators. Your regulator limits flow, while btu's is a measurement of heat. Not the same.

 

[kladue]

Burners larger than the BG-14 are too much fire under converted kegs or 16" bottom pots, all the extra capacity just goes up the sides and does not heat any faster than the BG-14 will. The regulators are listed by BTU capacity which relates to the amount of fuel gas they will flow at regulated pressure setting. For the typical brewing stand you need one capable of powering just 2 of the 3 burners at the same time because that is all that is used at the same time during the brew session.

 

[Bobby_M]

That stand looks pretty big without any reference object for comparison. Is this for 25-30 gallon pots? If not, I'd return the 32 tip. Hell, the 23 tip ones are plenty for 20 gallon boils while 10 tips are closer right for 10 gallons. I see a rule of thumb emerging, one tip per 1 or 2 gallons.

 

[rubberhead]

this set up i got the 55 gallon boikermakers so i dont think the flame is going up the side of the pot the bottoms of the pots are 27'' wide

 

[Bobby_M]

Ok, sounds like you're right on.

First, I hope you're planning on getting yourself a 100lb tank. You're not going to want to run off of a 20lb here because you'll ice it up in the first 5 minutes of running. If you want to use smaller, more portable tanks, I'd at least recommend running a pair of 40lb tanks simultaneously.

I guess there are a few ways to go here. You can plumb tank-pressure gas from the tank to a stand (make sure the hose set is capable) mounted manifold that you hang 3 individual regulators off of. In this case, you'd be able to go with three cheaper regs and control the gas with the built in knobs rather than add valves.

These would run each 32 tip just fine: http://www.agrisupply.com/high-pressure-adjustable-regulator-valve/p/64484/ss/regulator/
You'd just remove the tank connection fittings and hang them off the high pressure manifold.

The other way is to run a massive reg on the large LP tank and run that to a manifold. This one claims it's good for up to 750kBTU but somehow I doubt it based on the 1/4" NPT output. http://www.agrisupply.com/high-pressure-regulator-/p/36292/ss/regulator/

However, if you to run two of them, one on each of two tanks, I think it would be fine.

 

[joelireland]

Hell, the 23 tip ones are plenty for 20 gallon boils while 10 tips are closer right for 10 gallons. I see a rule of thumb emerging, one tip per 1 or 2 gallons.

Bobby, so for doing the final boil in a 50L keggle you would recommend only using the 10burner rather than the 20/23 burner? Am in the process of putting my build together and am making the decision between 10 burner and 20/23 burner mongolian.

If I go with a 23 burner, I guess I don't want to have to throttle it back too much to maintain a rolling boil as this creates soot from what I hear. Probably better to have the 10 burner working closer to optimal burn rate?

Cheers and Beers!

 

[BBL_Brewer]

I got the 32 tip natural gas jet burners and plumbed them right into my natural gas line. No tanks or regulators to worry about and it's cheaper. You can install ball valves to regulate the flame. I use them to do 5 gallon batches in the summer when big brews are just not feasible. Just move the burner up and back the flame off.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Bobby, so for doing the final boil in a 50L keggle you would recommend only using the 10burner rather than the 20/23 burner? Am in the process of putting my build together and am making the decision between 10 burner and 20/23 burner mongolian.

If I go with a 23 burner, I guess I don't want to have to throttle it back too much to maintain a rolling boil as this creates soot from what I hear. Probably better to have the 10 burner working closer to optimal burn rate?

Cheers and Beers!

Soot is not a problem at all. I back mine off to do 5 gallon batches and they don't soot up.

 

[Bobby_M]

The OP probably bought high pressure LP burners already and each tip would have to be drilled out to make them work with NG. I don't know what kind of NG supply he has in the building, but I'm pretty sure you'd need a 1" NPT run all the way to the stand (if it's a long run) to support a 300-400kBTU. 3/4" NPT would be ok as long as it's not too far from the trunk line.

One of the reasons why it's better to run higher pressure to the brewstand and dial them back per burner is that you don't end up with pressure drops when you light an additional burner. This is why it's common for commercial buildings to run a few psi on the system and regulate down to 7 W.C. at each appliance.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

You make a good point, I can't run both burners full throttle at the same time with household pressure. However, I rarely have a need to do so. The only time I run two burners at once is when I'm heating up strike and infusion water which are usually somewhere around 10-13 gallons per kettle and they heat up plenty fast. You might run full for a few minutes at the start of the boil but then you have to back off, so low pressure isn't as much of a problem as you might think.

 

[Bobby_M]

I guess it depends on what kind of production he's hoping for. At 55 gallons, it sounds like someone is hoping to open a Nano. Running back to back batches would require the HLT on full blast for heating strike for the next batch while boiling the previous. There are a few other combos of usage but I think the max output would be in the neighborhood of 300kBTU. That's still 3 times more gas than a typical furnace.

 

[Antler]

Ok, so for me doing 10 gallon batches with 3 10 tip burners on propane, would you recommend me a regulator to use off the tank into a manifold?