aukuras Posted November 30, 2017 Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 Hey guys! Up till now, I have been using an electric kiln for my pottery. It was a powerful, custom build, three-phase 400V kiln. Unfortunately, a building that I was renting a studio from is sold, and I have to move out to the new place. I found very affordable and beautiful place, but that building provides only single-phase 220V electricity. That's not enough for me, so I am thinking to move onto a gas kiln. And then I am facing another issue - loudness. I know gas burners can get pretty loud, and I am not allowed to disturb artists working on the other side of the walls. Does anyone know any sufficient way to deal with burner loudness? Any tips and comments are welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted November 30, 2017 Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 Some burners are louder than others. It just depends on the burner. In general, venturi burners are quieter than power burners, although I have seen a number of venturi that really growl. The quietest burners I have ever seen are the home-made venturi built from black pipe. They're almost silent. They are not the most efficient, though, and you may have issues with permits with those. Besides the burner issue, there are a lot of other things you need to deal with. Gas kilns have much greater venting requirements. Have you looked into what it will take to vent the space? You'll also need to check what sort of gas volume they can provide. If you're looking at a kiln of any real size, the 3/4" line that's probably already there won't do. You'll need a bigger line and possibly higher pressure. You'll also need to check out the fire codes to see if you can actually put a gas kiln there, or if changes need to be made to the space to increase the fire rating of the studio. Is there a reason you can't just get a new electric? Do you require a large kiln that can't run on the service that's there? How big a kiln do you need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted November 30, 2017 Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 Methane is quieter than propane because you use a bigger hole so less hiss I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted November 30, 2017 Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 My guess is you will be using propane . Since we do not know where you are located. But since you said you will not have the power you need -I'm assuming propane. As Neil said Venturi burners are the most quiet . stay away from power burners as they are loud. The more burners you have the less noise as they will be on less and be more quiet . I have 8 venturi burners on my 35 cubic foot car kiln-they are pretty quiet . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aukuras Posted November 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 Thank you for replies! I am in the Netherlands, propane is the only choice. I spoke to the owner of the building - I have permits to place a gas kiln out there. I asked if I could hire an electrician to get access to three-phase electricity, but he wasn't happy with this idea (yes, a gas kiln sounds better for him). So I left with 220V and 16A breaker = 3 500 W. I have 17 000 W kiln I would have a really big space out there, so I would build a separate space/room just for the kiln, ventilation would be not an issue, I took a look at that already. I was thinking about 10 cubic ft kiln, but I could go even smaller. Have any idea how many burners max I could hoop up on 10 c.ft. kiln? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted November 30, 2017 Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 They only give you 16 amps to work with? You can barely run a test kiln on that! You wouldn't necessarily need 3 phase for a 10 cubic foot electric kiln, but you'd need an 80 amp breaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aukuras Posted November 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 Yap, I know... Most power suppliers in Europe won't give you more than 20A single phase. In my area, maximum is 16A - 220V. Any equipment with higher power will be always hooked up to a three-phase 220V or 380V. That's standard here - we use single phase only for household equipment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Bridge Pottery Posted November 30, 2017 Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 I mean in theory you could have any number of burners as long as you can burn enough gas to hit the BTU/hour you need. Obviously there's practical and logical limitations. You could possibly make a low pressure system for propane, not sure if there's a reason to go up to 5-10psi besides the orifice size. There must be something I am overlooking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilestrick Posted November 30, 2017 Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 So only 20 amps available for your entire business, or just the largest circuit you can run is 20 amps, but you have more than that available total? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aukuras Posted November 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 In smaller business space most of the times are available only 16A for the entire business. Bigger places are equipped with 16A single phase for smaller equipment, and + three phase 400V - 75A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted December 1, 2017 Report Share Posted December 1, 2017 If you are building a separate space for the kiln, that should reduce the noise level outside that space, My kiln room when I was teaching had steel doors, and the burner noise didn't come through. I had two huge ventures on one of the kilns. Maybe visit some other people firing with propane to hear the noise level.It is something I worry about when I fire my raku kiln in my very peaceful neighborhood. Not sure how far that sound carries. If you have the kiln room with doors shut, you'll need makeup air coming in and a venting system for fumes. Usually intake near the floor and out take above. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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