Grimmer on mon 22 dec 97
Hello All,
I just got the gas bill for the kiln and the studio, and the local gas
company has tacked on a big "Purchased Gas Adjustment" which
*quarduples* the cost of my natural gas! The nice lady at the utility says
that this adjustment reflects supply and demand, etc., and fluctuates
daily. There is no real way to predict it, et cetera. It's what they have to
pay for gas at the pipeline.
Anyway, I got to wondering about my fuel use in comparison to other
potter's consumption. My new MFT is 33 cubic feet, constructed of G-23
IFB, 9" walls, 5" floor. Powered by 2 Eclipse TR-8 venturi burners with
11 w.c.i. gas pressure, 250,000 Btu each, maximum.
A typical ^10 firing schedule: Light at 7 am. ^010 and reduction at 2 pm.
Reduce pretty hard to ^3 (thanks RonR!) around four in the afternoon,
then lighten up just a bit for the climb. Keep it in medium reduction
until nines are down and tens are arching backwards, then oxidize nice
and clean and shut off with tens at 3 o'clock, 6 pm.
So, 11 hours total firing time and 2400 cubic feet of gas as read from the
dedicated meter. Is this a huge amount of gas? Has anyone out there had
any experience dialing in the adjustable orifices on Eclipse burners?
Thanks,
steve grimmer
marion illinois
Karl P. Platt on tue 23 dec 97
> I just got the gas bill for the kiln and the studio, and the local gas
> company has tacked on a big "Purchased Gas Adjustment" which
> *quarduples* the cost of my natural gas! The nice lady at the utility says
> that this adjustment reflects supply and demand, etc., and fluctuates
> daily. There is no real way to predict it, et cetera. It's what they have to
> pay for gas at the pipeline.
Its what they pay when they screw-up and fail to "nominate" the amount of
gas they require within fixed limits on a daily basis. Ask the nice lady
what she knows about FERC 636. If she knows nothing find someone there who
does...and ask
them about it. Also, your State should have some sort of implementing
legislation/regulations for this Federal Energy Regulatory COmmission
Order which would also explain why your gas price quadrupled. This event
is cause to contact your
consumer protection people and make a big stink as it is a screw-up at
the "city gate" end of the deal. If anyone is interested in
this topic we can go into it in detail.
FERC 636 drastically changed the way gas is sold in the US. By chance I
found out about it the day after it was promulgated -- and amazing read.
With what I learned I pulled a fast one on my local gas supplier in West
Virginia and told them I thought it was crazy to pay them $150.000/year
when I could simply put my own tap into a nearby transmission line --
circumventing them completely. Now
that sent a shockwave throughout the system. In their panic to avoid
having me set a precedent they and their suppliers *drastically* lowered
their rates to cover the $150,000 I would have saved by abandonming them.
Anyone near a transmission line can put a tap into it - of course, you
have to be of a certain size to make this worth while, as the up-front
cost is about $50,000. I believe this has many implications no-one has
considered much. For example, a neighborhood near a transmission line
could bypass its local utility and buy its own gas on the open market. I
know many places where this is worthwhile.
> Anyway, I got to wondering about my fuel use in comparison to other
> potter's consumption. My new MFT is 33 cubic feet, constructed of G-23
> IFB, 9" walls, 5" floor. Powered by 2 Eclipse TR-8 venturi burners with
> 11 w.c.i. gas pressure, 250,000 Btu each, maximum.......
> So, 11 hours total firing time and 2400 cubic feet of gas as read from
> dedicated meter. Is this a huge amount of gas? Has anyone out there had
> any experience dialing in the adjustable orifices on Eclipse burners?
You used about 2,400,000 BTU -- not much, really. If you'd used
electricity the firing would have cost about $90.00 assuming you paid
0.13/Kwh - a rather high figure, I know.
Your burners never got close to running at their rated capacity -- which
may well assume much higher gas pressure. 11"wc is but a whisper.
Before considering how to adjust the orifices, with which a number of us
can assist you, is it possible to get more pressure? The higher the
better.
Regards,
KPP
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