Custom Natural Gas Evaporator Setup

[sr73087]

So I am in the process now of piecing together a natural gas setup. I couldn't find much online that suits my needs. So what I am envisioning is a stand, maybe 30 inches tall with 10 burners on each side and food warming trays on each side. Here are the burners I was looking at, let me know what you think and possibly what could be some obstacles I may face with this setup.

http://www.cajun-outdoor-cooking.com/619bng-cajun-classic-super-hot-natural-gas-jet-burner-44-jets.htm

[spud]

10 of those burners will cost you $1000.00. It could cost you $200.00 just to make a gallon of syrup.You can buy a little 2x4 evaporator out of Saint Albans for $1100.00 and the look nice. Check out Vermont Craigslist farm and Garden and type in Evaporator.

Spud

[mellondome]

So I am in the process now of piecing together a natural gas setup. I couldn't find much online that suits my needs. So what I am envisioning is a stand, maybe 30 inches tall with 10 burners on each side and food warming trays on each side. Here are the burners I was looking at, let me know what you think and possibly what could be some obstacles I may face with this setup.

http://www.cajun-outdoor-cooking.com/619bng-cajun-classic-super-hot-natural-gas-jet-burner-44-jets.htm

That's a lot of heat for warming pans... a 2x6 raised flue only requires about 520k btu. Also you will need more than just a house meter and regulator for your gas supply.

[Schiefe4]

https://www.leaderevaporator.com/p-19-gas-fired-finishing-evaporator-2-x-5.aspx

[sr73087]

So the volume wont be enough for those burner through a standard natural gas setup?

Also, I didn't want to spend much more than a few hundred dollars for the setup. I was previously using a turkey fryer and it was not even close to an ideal setup for the volume of sap I was boiling.

[maple flats]

What size total pan are you looking to make? 10 of the burners you linked to, at full gas will generate 4,440,000 BTU and will cost $1000. Then if you read the notice at the bottom, they don't guarantee them nor do they accept returns. Those are Chinese burners without a guarantee, doesn't that tell you something?
If you want a natural gas evaporator, find something more reliable. Maybe on of the finishers set up to run on natural gas, my finisher (propane) is 2x6, they are available for 24" x 34", 2' x 4', 2' x 5' and 2' x 6' from leader, other equipment manufacturers likely make a range of sizes too. Just be sure they can be set up on natural gas which is lower pressure. It should just be a bigger orifice feeding the tubes or burners. I had a 2' x 34" before I got the 2' x 6' and it was able to boil quite fast (it was propane too). It should get up around 7 gal/hr and if you make a preheater maybe 8 gph. If you need more go to one of the bigger finishers. If you want a regular evaporator, you could buy just the arch and then put a set of raised flue pans on the 2 if not 3 largest finisher arches.
The small finisher has 2 large BTU round burners, and the other 3 have 4 tube burners, a tube burner has holes for gas to flow along the length of a pipe (tube).

[asknupp]

There was a thread either on here or the other site about someone who made a natural gas arch last year I believe. It looked interesting. I'll try and find it.

[sugarin' in the hood]

Lapierre makes a propane hobby sized evaporator, it seems most items require an orfice change to go from propane to natural gas. Sounds too easy, I must be missing something.

[mellondome]

I'm currently changing my 2x6 to natural gas from wood. (Waiting on gas supply Co to install meter... 3 month wait so far). I will be using 2 275k btu burners. They will be handing me gas at 2psi. I also plan on hot water., space heater, and finisher.
It is not the same meter as residential. You need more supply pressure to make up for the burn rate.

Propane is higher btu per cf and is delivered at a lot higher pressure than ng.

[maple flats]

Residential stoves and furnaces just swap orifices to go from one to the other, the natural gas one is always larger. You also need to get the right specs. to size the gas supply piping from the meter to the burners, since the gas pressure is lower, the conductor pipe must be larger.

[sr73087]

Is there typically a cost to have the larger meter installed?

Previously I used a turkey fryer and was overwhelmed with the sap I received from only 7 taps. I ended up spending too much money on propane and spent all day boiling every weekend. I need a fairly inexpensive solution.

[mellondome]

Is there typically a cost to have the larger meter installed?

Previously I used a turkey fryer and was overwhelmed with the sap I received from only 7 taps. I ended up spending too much money on propane and spent all day boiling every weekend. I need a fairly inexpensive solution.

cost depends on your local gas compaany.

You should be able to come up with a better middle ground.. you are looking at going from a 15k btu propane burner to a 450k btu gas burner.

Take a long hard look at what you are doing. How deep do you run the boil pot? Anything more than 1 inch is too deep. (deeper it is the longer it will take to boil off the same amount) Maybe get a pan for your propane burner.. or a double burner with a flat pan... they will hold 30x10 pan easily... that is what I use for a finishing pan.

[sr73087]

What type of gph boil off do you think that should get?

[Michi-Man]

Hello... I made a small hobby sized natural gas evaporator a couple of years back. I've had pretty good luck with it. I normally tap 16 trees and it handles the sap output just fine. I do mostly batch boiling because I don't have a lot of time to dedicate in the whole process. If you check out my profile, I have some pictures posted of what I put together. I utilized the jets out of a 32 nozzle jet burner which supposed to be around 320,000 BTU and it's a little too hot for a steady boil. I use a ball valve that gets partially close to reduce the flame. However, it works great for bringing 10 gallons of sap up to a boil in about 12-14 minutes (depending on the temperature out side). If you have any specific questions, send me a message and we could talk on the phone if you'd like...

Best of Luck,
Michi-Man