High vs Low Pressure Propane Burners

[andrewgwu]

In my browsing of propane burners to fire my boka work in progress I have found some are high and some low pressure. I am not sure I completely understand the distinction between the two for practical use. I currently have a burner which I assume is high pressure due to the roar it makes, which came out of a fish fryer. Which is better for our applications? Am I correct in assuming low pressure burners would save on fuel cost, but have a longer start up time? What do most folks typically use.

I have tried to google this on the site, but have come up short. I have a feeling it is out there and my google-fu isn't strong tonight.

[ozone39]

Generally it depends on the fixture being supplied. Boilers and other household fixtures are low pressure. There will generally be two regulators, one at the tank (red in color) and one before the house (green). Most turkey friers and such are high pressure (green regulator set high, or a red set low) they run around 10 psi or above on full fire. Low pressure will be for a boiler or house fixture or appliance (14 to 16 WC water column). Always been under the impression anything above 2PSI is considered high pressure. I would go with the high pressure, then you have the heat if you need it, and you can still dial the flame down with a needle valve. If you go low then that is not an option...

[Bayou-Ruler]

In my browsing of propane burners to fire my boka work in progress I have found some are high and some low pressure. I am not sure I completely understand the distinction between the two for practical use. I currently have a burner which I assume is high pressure due to the roar it makes, which came out of a fish fryer. Which is better for our applications? Am I correct in assuming low pressure burners would save on fuel cost, but have a longer start up time? What do most folks typically use.

I have tried to google this on the site, but have come up short. I have a feeling it is out there and my google-fu isn't strong tonight.

I use this one:

[SuburbanStiller]

Mine.

[Ayay]

Depends on if yer usin a gas tank or a piped supply. Piped gas is low pressure. Tank gas (LPG) is high pressure but it can be lowered to low pressure by a regulator.

Tank gas appliances can be either high pressure without a regulator, or low pressure with a regulator. High pressure appliances have no regulator but have very small oriffices in the burner like thinner than a hair. Low pressure appliances with a regulator have big oriffices more like 1mm. The air hole is bigger on low pressure compared to high pressure.

Your appliance should have a label showin whether it needs high or low pressure. If you are not sure then look at the orifice. Hair size = high pressure. 1mm or thereabouts = low pressure.

[andrewgwu]

Thanks guys. I have not got a burner yet, it is the last thing I am lacking before being up and running. It looks like most use a high pressure burner. I guess that would provide more heat for start up and would be able to be turned down for the run.

[Dnderhead]

a high pressur burner you have more control over as this you can turn down the pressur and it will still burn.
with a low pressur burner you are much more limited to the amount you can do this, but low pressur does have
its place as it is a "soft" flame therefor less prone to burning what is in the pot.
compare a blow torch to your cook stove,both mite have the same BTUs but the torch heat is concentrated in
one spot .with the stove the heat is spread out.

[EscarpmentDew]

I have been thinking about getting a LP regulator for my turkey fryer because I am struggling to get the temperatures I want even with very slight changes after a minute of waiting for the change. Or, it might be an idea to have HP for bringing the wort to temp and LP for ease of control.

[WN2W]

Bayou-Ruler, that is a Blichmann high pressure burner, isn't it? Nice!!
I am wondering if you can change a burner from low to high or vise versa. I'v seen burners that look identical but one version will be low, another high. Can it be done?

[cob]

wn2w; the short answer is yes, but don't do it yourself.

escarpmentdew; it takes more mods than just a regulator.

for propane high pressure generaly run with just a needle valve and an orfice. low pressure is run with a single stage or a two stage regulator, a needle valve and an orfice. high and low pressure parts are not really interchangable accept the burner itself.

a professional gas appliance technician can change between high and low pressure, and even natural gas but this is not a diy project.

edit: unless you are ozone39

[midcarolina]

You can go here http://www.thebayou.com/ and download their catalog......... they have a lot of interesting product info.....and neat stuff too!

[cob]

In my browsing of propane burners to fire my boka work in progress I have found some are high and some low pressure. I am not sure I completely understand the distinction between the two for practical use. I currently have a burner which I assume is high pressure due to the roar it makes, which came out of a fish fryer. Which is better for our applications? Am I correct in assuming low pressure burners would save on fuel cost, but have a longer start up time? What do most folks typically use.

most folks use what they have or can get easily. one burner is not better or more efficient than the other.
with propane it always takes X amount of BTU's, to heat X amount of water, in X amount of time regardless of pressure.
adjusting your burner for maximum efficiency gives the greatest economy.
more BTU's is faster.

[WN2W]

most folks use what they have or can get easily. one burner is not better or more efficient than the other.
with propane it always takes X amount of BTU's, to heat X amount of water, in X amount of time regardless of pressure.
adjusting your burner for maximum efficiency gives the greatest economy.
more BTU's is faster.

COB, (is that corn, oats, barley?) I think that is very good basic advice. The draw of the high pressure burners seems to be a lot of BTU in a small package. The low pressure, being able to run it on your home or work system would be a great advantage (to me any way). From my experience, I am thinking 30-40,000 btu would be the minimum for a 10-15 gallon pot and 100,000 would probably be the max usable btu? If all that is correct, an easily adjustable low pressure burner with 70+ btu should be as good as anything???

[cob]

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... y#p6797832

lots easier to turn down a big burner than make a small one do more than it's designed for.