Machining a Foundry Furnace Burner

[Grantham]

My latest YouTube video shows a simple burner made for my tilting crucible furnace.


This furnace is used for aluminum and zinc. I melt brass and other metals
in my electric furnace that has a built in pyrometer for a controlled melt
and use a clay crucible to avoid any contamination.

Rod

[Pipescs]

I have a great curiosity on how much propane such a burner uses in melting aluminum.

I only have experiance with oil and have thought about making a interchangable one to use propane.

If you are melting an A-8 size crucible how much propane would you use. Or maybe it would be better to ask how many melts can you get from a tank of propane

Charlie

[Grantham]

The 2 quart cast iron sauce pan crucible can hold about 8 pounds of aluminum. Most of my melts are about 5 pounds. It takes about 20 minutes on a cold furnace from start up to pour. In the melts where I weighed the propane tank, it takes about a pound of propane. So, all things considered there should be about 20 melts from a 20 pound propane tank. My original plan was to coat the refractory with ITC100 which is claimed to give better heat retention, but so far that's a project that't on my to do list. The burner that is shown in the video was made to show just how simple these things can be. Rod

[Pipescs]

Thanks

By the way, serious shop envy on the drawer unit behind you in the video.

[ken572]

Grantham,

Thank You, for the GREAT! educational video

Have you ever tried natural gas, in place of propane?

Ken.

[Grantham]

The style of burner shown in the video is self aspirating, meaning the pressure of the gas (propane at 10 psi) is all that's needed. The lower line pressure of natural gas needs a burner that is aided with air, usually from a fan or air compressor to get enough heat.

If it weren't for the cost of equipment and fees to boost the natural gas pressure from Xcel energy (our local gas utility), this would be a preferable option. Propane is about one and a half times as expensive per btu of energy in my area. To use the natural gas as supplied is only about a half pound of pressure.

There is nothing wrong with burners that use an air assist, but my video was made to show a very simple burner.

Perhaps someone who knows more about burners will chime in and give a better explanation of propane vs natural gas.

Thanks for the nice compliment.

Rod