the gas manifold

The gas manifold is finally complete. I added a few pics to the Bluto 555 combustion gallery.  I sized the main line at 1-1/4" to facilitate potentially all five burners operating at full blast simultaneously.

Using the propane burners I have (175k btu/hour each), that would require the main manifold (which is just over 10 feet long) and supply line to be able to handle up to 875k btus/hour).  Consulting the engineering toolbox, I can have a run of up to 40' of 1-1/4" pipe and still have a capacity of 900k btus/hour. Alternatively, if I'm using my natural gas burners (160k btu/hour each), theoretically all at the same time for a total of 800k btus/hour, the engineering toolbox natural gas piping chart says I can have up to 20' of 1-1/4" pipe for a capacity of up to 850k btus/hour.

click for more pictures

3/4" pipe is used for each of the individual burners, which is more than enough capacity for either 160k or 175k btus/hour.  I'm also using 12" Dormont flexible gas connectors (DOR-1675BPCF2S12) with swivels, shut-off valves and quick disconnects, which each have a capacity of 230k btus/hour.  The Dormont connectors are used in commercial kitchens to facilitate rolling equipment away from walls to clean, without having to disconnect the gas line.  They're made to withstand repeated stress and are covered with an anti-microbial pvc coating. They're expensive, but (as far as I know) they're the only gas connectors approved for repetitive flexing in a commercial environment.  The Dormont connectors allow me to easily lower and raise the burners as needed, anytime.