Design Considerations

for
Pipe Burner
Heating Systems

Rev—2.1
Thank you for purchasing a Burners, Inc. pipe burner. This burner has been built using exacting
standards and manufacturing techniques in order to insure you a quality product which will give
you many hours of worry-free service.

It is our goal to give you a top quality product. In order to insure this, we have developed the fol-
lowing installation guidelines for you to reference. As every installation is a little different, these
instructions represent a basic installation. If these instructions do not generally represent your in-
stallation requirements, please contact our technical support staff. We will be happy to offer addi-
tional assistance in your installation.

General Installation
The successful design of an oven or furnace burner system requires the appropriate design of four
fundamental aspects of combustion: (1) Gas Supply, (2) Air Supply, (3) Head Space, and (4) Vent-
ing.

Basic Pipe Burner Diagram

1. Gas Supply
In order for a burner to operate at full capacity, the gas supply piping must provide the burner with
a sufficient volume of clean fuel at the correct operating pressure. As a rule of thumb, all propane
operated pipe burners will operate at 11” water column (WC), and all natural gas pipe burners will
operate at 8”WC. It is important to remember that a burner which is designed for propane, can not
be used with natural gas and a burner designed to operate on natural gas, can not be used with
propane. You must also know the BTU rating for your burner. With this information, please refer
to the chart in the back of this manual for proper gas supply line sizing.

2. Air Supply
All pipe burners require sufficient amounts of both primary and secondary air for safe and efficient
combustion. If your system is lacking on either primary or secondary air volumes, your burner will
not operate correctly, and my cause your system to act erratically.

Primary air is the air which is pulled into the burner’s mixer (the mixer is located at the beginning
of the pipe burner). The amount of primary air is controlled by the air shutters (located on the
mixer). The air shutters can be adjusted by loosening the jam nut, re-locating the air shutters, and
re-tightening the jam nut. Insufficient primary air results in low flame temperature and will eventu-
ally cause carbon build-up in your system. This carbon will act as an insulator, and will further de-
crease the efficiency of your system. Insufficient primary air is evidenced by candle-yellow type
flames present on the burner. Simply opening the air shutters will usually provide adequate pri-
mary air. If the gas orifice is over-sized, it may be impossible to correctly adjust the primary air
shutters to allow for sufficient primary air to enter the pipe burner.
Secondary air is the air which is pulled into the final combustion (flame) from around the
pipe burner. There are no adjustments on the burner to control the amount of secondary
air. The burner will only use enough secondary air to complete proper combustion. How-
ever, if the pipe burner is located in an area which restricts the amount of secondary air
the burner can use, the pipe burner will begin to act erratically (for example - there is not
enough fresh air inlet openings underneath the burner). Lack of secondary air will also
result in carbon build-up. Also, a lack of secondary air is evidenced by a lazy, undefined,
bluish flame which will often be visible away from the burner.

When designing your system, consider the pipe burner placement. It is not recommended
that the burner be located directly near floors or walls of the system. It is also recom-
mended that you allow for sufficient amounts of secondary air to enter into the system.
Please remember, that even with careful planning, it is sometimes necessary to enlarge or
add secondary air openings.

3. Head Space
Head space is the distance between the top of the burner and the bottom of the surface
being heated. Proper head space allows for room to complete the flame combustion.
Adequate head space allows for all burner flames to be visible and well-defined. The in-
ner cone of the flame should not strike the surface being heated. If this is allow to occur, it
may result in incomplete combustion and/or the presence of gas odor in the exhaust of the
system.

As a rule of thumb, a single pipe burner should have a head space equal to approximately
two time the diameter of the burner. Add 1/2” for every additional burner added to the
system.

Insufficient head space can be extremely dangerous, as it often results in incomplete com-
bustion and the release of un-burned gas into the work environment. This problem must
be resolved immediately.

4. Venting
Once hot gasses and the products of combustion have heated the work, they must be
properly vented from the system. As a rule of thumb, figure on a minimum of one square
inch of flue venting for every 6,500 BTU’s of burner output along the entire length of the
burner. We always recommend rounding up for safety. In addition to providing a suffi-
cient area, all venting must be un-obstructed. There must be a natural flow upward and
outward for proper venting to occur.

Once vented, all products of combustion must be collected in a vent hood or canopy and vented
out of the building. The build-up of combustion gasses in an occupied work environment is ex-
tremely dangerous and can cause death.

At no time should vented exhaust gas be allowed to occupy a work environment. This problem
must be corrected immediately prior to operating the system.

It is also important to mention that it may be necessary to contact your local municipal
building department in order to determine if special installation considerations must be
made, or special installation or operating permits must first be obtained. In the lack of
any local building codes or requirements, you must always follow the standards of instal-
lation, outlined by NFPA 86 Standards for Ovens & Furnaces, as well as, ANSI Standards
Z21.30 - Installation of Gas Appliances and Gas Piping.
Basic Trouble Shooting Techniques
A) Does the pipe burner work?
• Is the burner getting any fuel - Is the fuel supply turner “ON”
• Is the burner getting the correct amount of fuel - refer to section 1) Gas Supply
• Are the ports in the top of the burner clogged - clean if necessary
• Are the air shutters loose - align and tighten
• Is there adequate fresh air inlet openings and vented exhaust - see sections 3) & 4)
NOTE - Propane systems, low on fuel will not work correctly - use a full tank

B) Does pipe burner get hot enough?

• Is the burner getting the correct amount of fuel - refer to section 1) Gas Supply
NOTE - Propane systems, low on fuel will not work correctly - use a full tank
• Check with the system manufacturer for proper operating limits
• Is there adequate fresh air inlet openings and vented exhaust - see sections 3) & 4)
When re-locating the burner to a different elevation, it may be necessary to re-adjust the pri-
mary air shutters.

This publication is provided by Burners, Inc. as a general guideline for a safe and efficient de-
sign guideline. This information is not recommended to be an installation manual. For specific
and particular information, please consult the system manufacturer.

Burners, Inc. - P.O. Box 369 - Milford - Michigan - 48381

Telephone (248) 676-9141 - Fax (248) 684-4475
 Gas Pipe Sizing Charts
PROPANE - 11” water column
Pipe Length 1/2” 3/4” 1” 1-1/4” 1-1/2”

10 ft. 275,000 567,000 1,071,000 2,205,000 3,307,000

20 ft. 189,000 393,000 732,000 1,496,000 2,299,000

30 ft. 152,000 315,000 590,000 1,212,000 1,858,000

40 ft. 129,000 267,000 504,000 1,039,000 1,559,000

50 ft. 114,000 237,000 448,000 913,000 1,417,000

60 ft. 103,000 217,000 409,000 834,000 1,275,000

80 ft. 89,000 185,000 346,000 724,000 1,086,000

100 ft. 78,000 162,000 307,000 630,000 976,000

NATURAL GAS - 8” water column

Pipe Length 1/2” 3/4” 1” 1-1/4” 1-1/2”

10 ft. 174,000 363,000 684,000 1,404,000 2,103,000

20 ft. 119,000 249,000 470,000 965,000 1,445,000

30 ft. 96,000 200,000 377,000 775,000 1,161,000

40 ft. 82,000 171,000 323,000 663,000 993,000

50 ft. 73,000 152,000 286,000 588,000 880,000

60 ft. 66,000 138,000 259,000 532,000 798,000

80 ft. 56,000 118,000 222,000 456,000 683,000

100 ft. 50,000 104,000 197,000 404,000 605,000

These charts are intended to be used a reference only. Any bends, elbows or other fittings will derate
these btu capacities. Please consult your system installer for exact btu capacities.
 PIPE BURNERS
Burners, Inc. pipe burners are manufactured for many commercial & industrial uses and fit a variety of applications.
They are custom made to meet your specifications. We offer a wide selection of pipe diameters and your pipe
burner can be made to any length. A Burners, Inc. technical support representative can assist you in determining
the correct specifications for your application.

Pipe Flame Total BTU / hr Pipe Flame Total BTU / hr Pipe Flame Total BTU / hr
Size Lgth Lgth (x 1000) Size Lgth Lgth (x 1000) Size Lgth Lgth (x 1000)
1/2 12 17 6 1 1/4 30 39 19 1 1/2 48 59 47
1/2 16 21 7 1 1/4 36 45 22 1 1/2 54 65 51
1/2 20 25 8 1 1/4 42 51 26 2 36 50 61
3/4 12 18 9 1 1/4 48 57 30 2 42 56 65
3/4 18 24 10 1 1/4 54 63 34 2 48 62 67
3/4 24 30 11 1 1/2 18 29 24 2 54 68 71
3/4 30 36 13 1 1/2 24 35 31 2 60 74 73
1 18 26 11 1 1/2 30 41 39 2 66 80 76
1 24 32 14 1 1/2 36 47 43 2 72 86 79
1 30 38 17 1 1/2 42 53 45 2 84 98 82
1 36 44 19
1 42 50 20
1 48 56 21
1 1/4 24 33 15

All pipe burners come complete with valve, mixer, air shutter & engineered pipe.
The standard inlet connection, for most burners is 9/16"-10 LH.

Cooker Burner Valve/Orifice Assemblies

We offer both a standard orifice assembly (CV series) and a
combination Valve/Orifice Assembly (FV-11 style) for our CV series
cooker burners and pipe burners. All of our orifices are made in our
factory and can be ordered with a wide variety of inlet connections.
Our standard inlet connections are 9/16”-18LH hose inlet and
1/4” mpt pipe thread inlet. Please
specify the burner model number and
BTU rating at the time of ordering.

CV series FV-11
Orifice Assembly Valve / Orifice Assembly