Selecting a gas burner starts with understanding the heating process it needs to support. Required heat output, fuel type, gas pressure, burner dimensions, flame pattern, and available airflow can all influence the configuration. For that reason, choosing gas burners for industrial use requires looking beyond burner size alone and considering how heat output, flame pattern, fuel supply, and burner dimensions fit the equipment and process.
Start With the Required Heat Load
The burner must provide the required heat for the process, but BTU rating should not be considered in isolation. The material or medium being heated, target temperature, heat losses, operating cycle, and equipment dimensions can all affect the required heat load.
A burner for a processing tank, for example, may need to spread heat across a long surface. A metal melting or heat-treating application can have different temperature and flame requirements. Establishing the heat demand first provides a clearer basis for determining burner capacity, flame coverage, and overall configuration.
Consider Fuel Type and Available Gas Pressure
Natural gas and propane have different supply characteristics, so the available fuel needs to be considered during burner selection. Gas pressure and supply volume also affect how a burner can be configured.
With a Venturi burner, gas moving through the mixer draws in primary combustion air before the mixture reaches the burner ports. Gas supply, combustion air, head space, and venting all affect how the burner operates, making them important parts of the overall configuration. Depending on the application, Venturi configurations can operate without a separate blower or compressed-air source.
Evaluate Flame Pattern and Heat Distribution
Total burner output matters, but so does how that heat is distributed across the work or equipment. Pipe burners can distribute flame along their length, making them useful for tanks, kettles, ovens, cookers, and other applications that require heat across a broader area.
Other applications may call for round, multi-pipe, high-pressure, or custom burner arrangements. When comparing gas burners for industrial use, flame length, port arrangement, burner placement, and heated-area geometry should be considered together because each can affect heat distribution.
Account for Burner Dimensions and Equipment Geometry
Available installation space can determine which burner arrangement will work within an existing system. Tank shape, chamber dimensions, clearance, burner length, and the distance between the flame and heated surface can influence the final configuration.
Standard burner sizes may meet many requirements, but unusual equipment dimensions or process conditions can call for a custom design. Custom configurations can account for burner dimensions, required BTU output, fuel supply, pressure, airflow, materials, and equipment layout so the burner matches the operating and dimensional requirements of the application.
Consider How the Selection Factors Work Together
Burner selection becomes more accurate when heat load, fuel supply, pressure, combustion air, venting, flame coverage, and equipment geometry are considered together. These factors can influence one another, so focusing on a single specification may overlook conditions that affect burner performance.
Working with an industrial gas burner manufacturer can help match these variables to the operating requirements, fuel conditions, and physical layout of the equipment.
For industrial heating applications that require standard or custom burner configurations, Charles A. Hones, Inc. manufactures natural gas and propane burner systems, including pipe burners, high-pressure burners, Venturi-based configurations, and custom designs. Contact us to discuss your heat load, fuel supply, burner dimensions, and application requirements.