15-20BBL Direct Fire Question

[bvelt]

We brewed for the 1st time today on our new 20BBL direct fire kettle (we were told direct fire is efficient up to a 20BBL kettle and didnt want to hassle with steam) and it took almost 4.5 hours to get to a boil. We're using an 800,000BTU burner which is what was spec'd out for our size system. Can anyone using a large direct fire kettle let us know how long it takes to get to boil and any tricks for achieving max efficiency out of our burner. Thanks in advance.

-Brad Veltman
Aspen Brewing Co.
Brad(at)aspenbrewingco.com

[CapeCodBeer]

Not enough info

That burner should boil that beer right out the door..but it isn't
We have a 15 bbl with a 400,000 btu..which is adequate.
But to help we need more info...

Is it gas or propane?
Brand of kettle?
Brand of burner?
Size of orifice installed?
Number of inches of water column of gas at burner?
Do you have a draft inducer..where is it located?
Do you have any other gas fired device on same feeder line at same time?
How big is the meter and pipe coming in? How many elbows?

Is there a free trip to Aspen in it for us? (grin)
If you want to direct mail use info(at)capecodbeer.com
But if you can answer many of these question people here might be able to advise you.

[BonedaleBeer]

Hey Brad,

Have you considered the derating for altitude on the burner? Probably losing 10% or more at altitude there. Also make sure you have the correct water column pressure coming out of the reg.

Would love to come up and see the new system!

[dick murton]

You are starting to heat up a soon as the coils are covered, even if the runoff is only part complete, and not waiting until unoff is complete before starting to heat, aren't you ?

[chaser]

Speaking on behalf of Brad...

We made some changes yesterday and got the burner working properly. The main issue seemed to be a useless regulator our plumber put in. Took 20 minutes from the end of runoff yesterday to boil, which was great, and seems to be standard on large direct fire kettles. Still, I've only used steam systems, so direct fire is new to me and any advice is welcome...

To answer the questions

It's natural gas, the kettle is made by STI, the burner is an economite 4700BA (700,000 BTU), the orifice is .422 (if I'm remembering correctly), we are getting 3.2" WC (burner manual recommends 3.5" but 3.2 is all we can get), there is a draft inducer located just above the burner, there is a rinai and a heater coming off the same main gas supply, and it is 1.25" flex gas hose coming off the main gas hook up in the building. The burner was originally supposed to be 800,000 BTU, but apparently we got a 700,000 BTU one. In any case it was sized up for being at 8000 ft. I turn the burner on as soon as it hits the low level cut off switch, which is about a 1/3 of the way up the kettle.

Everything seems to be set-up properly now, but any advice is welcome. Jeff, shoot me a PM and let me know whenever youre in Aspen and we'll show you around. I want to check out your place also, I've only been in once and you weren't around.

-Chase