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Blichmann Burner on NG

Northern Brewer General
#1

I bought the subject burner about a month ago with the NG conversion kit. I did my first brew with propane and it was awesome. I even ran an experiment with 5 gal of water and got 12 min. from 60 degF to 160 and and less than 25 min from 60 degF to boil. I just put together the fittings and hose to run it on NG. I’m getting terrible results. From 60 degF to 168 it took 32 minutes. I know there is 15% less energy but this is ridiculous. The conversion kit says it has a 1/8" orifice and I verified it with a measurement. It also says you need 5" WC for the gas. I measured it at the source and at the burner and I get about 7". I’m using a 32’ stainless 3/8" hose with 3/8" flare on the ends. I contacted Blichmann before I purchased it and they said it should be fine.

Here is a pic of the flame with NG - I’m sure the flames were much taller with propane:


http://smg.photobucket.com/user/mbg/media/IMG_0001_zps887c58d2.jpg.html

These are plots of temperature versus time for the LP and NG (note: LP is more than 2x as fast):


http://smg.photobucket.com/user/mbg/media/Capture_zpsbdc6271d.jpg.html

Any suggestions? Do I need a bigger orifice? (this burner is rated at 75,000 btu/hr LP and 60,000 NG)

Thanks,

Mike

#2

Interested in this since I’m planning on running my Blichmann burners off of natural gas when I move. I think your hose size and length might be the issue, when I look up the BTU’s for 32’ of 3/8", I’m seeing around 20k BTU. Looks like you need at least 5/8" for that distance or 3/4" to play it safe. Unsure why that doesn’t line up with what you’re measuring for WC at the burner but I’m not up on how to measure all that. :expressionless: . I know WC measures pressure which is different than flow so perhaps that is the issue.

#3

Thanks for the response. I measured the pressure with water in a clear hose but that is static pressure. I thought the 3/8" would be OK since I wrote to Brinkmann and they said it should work fine but after reading your post I did some digging and for 60,000 BTU/HR you are correct for my line length I need 5/8" hose.

Thanks,

Mike

#4

Going to have to keep my line length shorter or use a shorter hose as I’m planning to run 2 blichmann burners off NG.

#5

After reading Flip’s reply I did some web searching and indeed my 3/8" tubing was way too small. I went out and replaced the 3/8" tubing with 5/8" and performance was as expected (15% less BTU/Hr than LP) the plot is for 5 gal.:


http://smg.photobucket.com/user/mbg/media/Capture2_zps8c1b2bf6.jpg.html

Thanks Flip - wish I got the same info from Blichmann before I bought the 3/8" line.

Mike

#6

Good deal, glad your setup is running as expected now. :cheers: Had dug into it a bit since I looking so do something similar.

#7

How about an updated picture of the flame now?

For comparison purposes (NG), I get the following:

Superb 35,000 BTU - 2°F per minute rise on 15.5 gallons

Impinging 10 Jet Burner 58,000 BTU - 2°F per minute rise on 25 gallons

#8

Mullerbrau - what kind of supply line (before any hose you’re using) do you have run for the NG? I’m trying to make sure that the NG line run to the garage in my house is large enough. I’ll be running two Blichmann burners off of NG and I’d hate to get the line in only to find out it is limiting my burners.

I’m really looking forward to not having to run and get propane when a tank empties. I’ve got 2 propane, 3 counting the grill, and I try to keep at least 1 full so I don’t run out mid-brew. It isn’t a giant deal to get propane but it’ll be one less thing and one less trip out I have to worry about.

#9

[quote=“Flip”]I’m trying to make sure that the NG line run to the garage in my house is large enough.[/quote]It all depends on the length of the run, size of your main gas line, load of the rest of the house. If your meter is on the other side of the house from your garage there’s a good chance it may not be large enough, most of the time plumbers will reduce the pipe size as the load gets smaller to save money.

#10

Will have to assume the HVAC guy is used to figuring that stuff out then. I told him how many BTU’s I needed to supply so he should be able to figure out what needs to be run.

#11

[quote=“Flip”]Mullerbrau - what kind of supply line (before any hose you’re using) do you have run for the NG? I’m trying to make sure that the NG line run to the garage in my house is large enough. I’ll be running two Blichmann burners off of NG and I’d hate to get the line in only to find out it is limiting my burners.

I’m really looking forward to not having to run and get propane when a tank empties. I’ve got 2 propane, 3 counting the grill, and I try to keep at least 1 full so I don’t run out mid-brew. It isn’t a giant deal to get propane but it’ll be one less thing and one less trip out I have to worry about.[/quote]My meter is on the opposite side of the house. I am running 1/2" black pipe probably about 55’ and about 9- 90° elbows. Also on that line, I run a gas dryer and a garage furnace (30,000 BTU). I know I am close to the limit because I put a 20 tip impinging jet burner in under the BK and it was yellowish blue and had trouble. I took it back out and put the 10 jet back in.

#12

I should be in decent shape then since where I need it run to is only ~25’ from where the gas comes in the house. Our dryer is electric this time, the garage furnace is already on its own line and worst case things are accessible since we have truss floors and where the line needs to poke through to the garage is easy to get at.

#13

[quote=“Flip”]…the garage furnace is already on its own line[/quote]You could probably get by hooking up to your garage furnace line as long as you shut it off while the burners are fired. Otherwise sounds like you shouldn’t have any problem getting a line run if needed. You’ll love brewing with NG, I wish I’d done it sooner.

#14

If you need hose I found a place with high quality components at somewhat reasonable price (much less that tejassmokers): http://caloreequipment.com/products/cl/ … r-kit.html

Mike

#15

Probably overkill but the hvac guy actually put in a dedicated NG regulator in the garage for my burners. :smiley: Really looking forward to brewing with NG.

#16

[quote=“mbg”]If you need hose I found a place with high quality components at somewhat reasonable price (much less that tejassmokers): http://caloreequipment.com/products/cl/ … r-kit.html

Mike[/quote]
This ended up being where I ordered from, was exactly what I needed. :cheers: Just got everything together so I haven’t brewed on it yet but I am VERY much looking forward to it. Seemed like the burner was kicking out plenty of heat.

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