search  current discussion  categories  kilns & firing - burners 

question about gas burners on kiln

updated wed 28 jan 04

 

Hank Murrow on fri 23 jan 04


Dear Richard;

I imagine he is concerned about the fact that Natural gas is lighter
than air, and might not fall from the orifice down to the burner tip.

That said, As long as your burners are designed to inspirate primary
air due to the stream of gas creating a low pressure zone in the
venturi, there should be no problem. It was a problem with the old
'Alfred pipe' burners, which really could not inspirate primary air
well.

I have had no problem mounting Eclipse burners. In any orientation they
seem to work just fine.

Hope this is re-assuring, Hank in Eugene


On Jan 23, 2004, at 12:46 PM, Richard Aerni wrote:

> Hi everyone,
> I was idly perusing Olsen's second edition of his kiln book while I
> had a
> few minutes this afternoon, and came upon this injunction on page 212,
> under "Burner Installation" : "Never have the orifice above the
> burner."
> That is followed by a picture which shows a burner with the piping (and
> orifice) coming in from above the burner tip. There was no further
> explanation why this is a no-no. Now, I was planning on feeding my
> burners
> for my new kiln from above, and this has given me pause. I can
> speculate
> on several reasons why Olsen says this is a no-no, but I want more than
> mere speculation. I know I have seen numerous kilns with burners
> supplied
> from above (I think the pictures of Linda Blossom's showed this set up
> as
> well.), and I'm curious.
> Does anyone KNOW the reason why Olsen would say "the orifice must
> never be
> located above the burner"?

Vince Pitelka on fri 23 jan 04


> Does anyone KNOW the reason why Olsen would say "the orifice must never be
> located above the burner"?

Richard -
Who knows why Olson said that. There are other inconsistencies in his book,
although it is still an extremely valuable source when building a gas kiln.
But there is no reason at all not to have the orifice above the burner tip.
I have done it both ways, with both natural gas and propane, and as long as
everything else is properly designed, it works fine.
Best wishes -
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Office - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 x111, FAX 615/597-6803
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/

Paul Herman on fri 23 jan 04


Hello Richard,

I think it is because natural gas is lighter than air. It stands to
reason that with propane, this wouldn't be a problem.

best wishes,

Paul Herman
Great Basin Pottery
Doyle, California US
http://www.greatbasinpottery.com/

----------
>From: Richard Aerni
>To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
>Subject: Question about gas burners on kiln
>Date: Fri, Jan 23, 2004, 12:46 PM
>

> Does anyone KNOW the reason why Olsen would say "the orifice must never be
> located above the burner"?
> Best,
> Richard Aerni
k

Richard Aerni on fri 23 jan 04


Hi everyone,
I was idly perusing Olsen's second edition of his kiln book while I had a
few minutes this afternoon, and came upon this injunction on page 212,
under "Burner Installation" : "Never have the orifice above the burner."
That is followed by a picture which shows a burner with the piping (and
orifice) coming in from above the burner tip. There was no further
explanation why this is a no-no. Now, I was planning on feeding my burners
for my new kiln from above, and this has given me pause. I can speculate
on several reasons why Olsen says this is a no-no, but I want more than
mere speculation. I know I have seen numerous kilns with burners supplied
from above (I think the pictures of Linda Blossom's showed this set up as
well.), and I'm curious.
Does anyone KNOW the reason why Olsen would say "the orifice must never be
located above the burner"?
Best,
Richard Aerni

Roger Korn on sat 24 jan 04


Richard Aerni wrote: "...Does anyone KNOW the reason why Olsen would
say "the orifice must never be
located above the burner"?

I don't KNOW why Fred said this, but my reasoning would be that burnback from the burner tip to the orfice is more likely with the orfice above the burner tip, thus limiting the turndown range of the burner.

Roger

--
McKay Creek Ceramics
In OR: PO Box 436
North Plains, OR 97133
503-647-5464

In AZ: PO Box 463
Rimrock, AZ 96335
928-567-5699

Marcia Selsor on mon 26 jan 04


Dear Richard,
As with everything in clay, there is more than one theory on this topic.
In fact, Ransome burners from Amityville, NY have photos of their
burners..(which I used for over 20 years where I taught) with the
orifice above the burner. This configuration was on BIG venturi burners
with an elbow. The vertical part was over 2 feet tall. This
configuration was used because it was the only way to fit these huge
burners behind the kiln. They were lit with spark plug ignition and had
honeywell ultra violet sensors. Once in a while when lighting them there
was a little back fire but it was expected.
So you'll have to ask Fred why he thinks this is a no no when the
manufacturers show them in their catalogs with the orifice above the burner.
Ciao,
Marcia Selsor

Richard Aerni wrote:

> Hi everyone,
> I was idly perusing Olsen's second edition of his kiln book while I had a
> few minutes this afternoon, and came upon this injunction on page 212,
> under "Burner Installation" : "Never have the orifice above the burner."
> That is followed by a picture which shows a burner with the piping (and
> orifice) coming in from above the burner tip. There was no further
> explanation why this is a no-no. Now, I was planning on feeding my burners
> for my new kiln from above, and this has given me pause. I can speculate
> on several reasons why Olsen says this is a no-no, but I want more than
> mere speculation. I know I have seen numerous kilns with burners supplied
> from above (I think the pictures of Linda Blossom's showed this set up as
> well.), and I'm curious.
> Does anyone KNOW the reason why Olsen would say "the orifice must never be
> located above the burner"?
> Best,
> Richard Aerni

Vince Pitelka on mon 26 jan 04


> > under "Burner Installation" : "Never have the orifice above the burner."
> > That is followed by a picture which shows a burner with the piping (and
> > orifice) coming in from above the burner tip.

Richard -
I realized that maybe my previous post on this never appeared on Clayart. I
have built kilns with the orifice above the burner, and I have seen plenty
of them set up that way, running on both natural gas and propane, and I have
never heard of anyone having any kind of problem with it. Who knows where
Fred Olson got that idea, but he is mistaken.
Best wishes -
- Vince

Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Office - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 x111, FAX 615/597-6803
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/