RE: LP vs Natural Gas

Here is some general information about NG, Propane, and combustion. Propane is heavier than air and NG is lighter than air. This is why a house explosion with NG blows up the top floors and a propane gas explosion blows up the basement. If your house blows up and a propane cylinder is in the basement, you may be disqualified for insurance. During heavy demand, our gas company switches between NG and propane. Propane is mixed with air so the BTU content is similar and the orificing does not need to be changed. This is usually a daily occurrence (last year) when demand exceeded supply and the country was building Enron. Carbon Monoxide is very dangerous and is too easy to produce. During initial firing with a cold burner, stock pot, or vessel, the flame condenses and creates large quantities of CO. After warming up, a well balanced flame produces little to no CO but large quantities of C02. Humans and fire requires Oxygen. Dark accumulations on the bottom of stock pots, kegs, buckets indicates a poor air-gas mixture. Yellow flames indicate a really poor air-gas mixture. Suburb burners are a challenge to adjust and usually operate too rich (CO). Even after removal of the air throttle valve, I ended up filing our the venturi to try to better balance the mixture (lean out). Cast iron burners with top jets corrode. The best way to clean the jets is with a small drill (same size it was originally drilled with) by moving the drill in and out of the hole by hand. Similar to using a tip cleaner in an Oxy-acetylene torch. After cleaning, make sure the rust is removed by using the generally accepted laws of gravity. Combustion by-products disrupt overhead combustion. Do not position one burner above another without adequate waste gas diversion. The lower column of hot CO2 will disrupt the top flame and generate significant CO. Boil overs extinguish flames. Most burners operate without safety shutdowns so if you have a burner that is operating, make sure it remains lit and operate it outside. Converting a propane burner to NG creates more gas noise due to the larger orifice. Hope this helps clear the air....... {(:-)} Rick