Gas pressure regulation for heating in poultry and pig houses 

When you choose a gas heating system for your poultry or pigsty, it is important that the gas pressure control runs smoothly. When choosing the right gas pressure regulator, it is important to pay attention to a number of points. This ensure that no mistakes are made that could cause problems in the future. 

Gasolec B.V. offers the following gas pressure controls: 

Manual gas pressure regulation 

• Manual gas regulator 

Automatic gas pressure regulation 

• High-Low 
• Continuous (Stepless) 
• Fixed gas pressure – ON/OFF 

What is gas pressure regulation? 

A gas pressure regulator is a device that can reduce the gas pressure in a gas pipe. Gas is usually supplied at a high pressure. The higher the gas pressure, the more energy can be transported through the same gas pipe. For the gas heater it is important that the pressure of the incoming gas is in the pressure range of that gas heater. 

In addition, one can adjust the actual heat output of many Gasolec heaters by adjusting the gas pressure towards that heater within the control range of that infrared heater. At the maximum gas pressure regulation, the heater delivers the maximum heat production and at the minimum gas pressure, the minimum heat production is delivered. 

However, when the gas pressure to the heater is outside the permitted pressure range, it can cause serious problems. For example, set too high and the gas pressure can damage the heater (it becomes too hot), set too low and the heater can switch off. Moreover, a deviating gas pressure can result in incomplete combustion within the heater. In such a situation a heater can sometimes release toxic substances than can be harmful – sometimes deadly – for the animals inside the building. 

What factors should you pay attention to for a proper gas pressure regulation? 

Gasolec B.V. offers many different gas pressure controls. It is important that the choice of the preferred gas heaters matches the available gas type, the gas pressure and the desired gas pressure control. All of this must be properly coordinated, and we advise you to do this in consultation with your Gasolec dealer and / or with Gasolec B.V. directly. 

Re a. Manual Gas Pressure Regulator

A manual gas pressure regulator means that the adjustment of the gas pressure has to be done manually. In general, this leads to the lowest investment costs however it also means that people have to present all the time when the conditions change. In practice this means that with manual gas pressure control that often the heater is operating inefficiently. Both the heat output and the gas consumption are not ideal. 

Re b. High-Low – Automatic Gas Pressure Regulation

This is a gas pressure regulation system with two gas pressure regulators: 

• High – high pressure to the heaters, this maximum can almost always be adjusted. 
• Low – low pressure to the heaters, this minimum can almost always be adjusted. 

In addition, there is a solenoid valve that is either OPEN (position High) or CLOSED (position Low). When the solenoid valve receives power from a climate controller, the solenoid will open, and the gas heaters get a high gas pressure so that they will burn at a high capacity. When the solenoid does not receive power from the climate controller, the solenoid will close, and the gas heaters get a low gas pressure so they will operate at a low capacity. 

Should there be power break down and/or should the climate controller fail, then there is an option of adjusting the gas pressure manually, just in case. 

Re c. Continuous (Stepless) – Automatic gas regulator

This is a stepless gas pressure control unit that adjust the gas pressure to the radiators based on a 0-10Vc control signal. This gas regulator is also equipped with an emergency facility to manually adjust the gas pressure should the power and / or climate controller fail. 

Re d. Fixed Gas Pressure Regulator

With this regulator, the gas pressure to the heater is constant. Simply explained, an incoming gas pressure of 5 Bar will always be regulated to for instance 28mBar. 

For heaters operating on a fixed gas pressure, like a G12, there are two options available to regulate the heating capacity although the gas pressure to the heaters is constant. 

• The heater operates at maximum capacity, or the heater operates on pilot flame. 
• The heater operates at maximum capacity, or the heater is off. 

This type of regulation is usually more expensive than central gas pressure regulating. That is why these ON/OFF systems are more often used with larger capacity heaters. At Gasolec only our G12 heaters operate on the fixed gas pressure of 28mBar. 

Conclusion

After reading about the different gas pressure regulators, we learned that there is a choice between manual gas pressure regulators and automatic gas pressure regulators. With automatic gas regulation, a climate controller usually measures the room temperature and then determines whether additional heating is needed or not. The advantage of automatic gas pressure regulation is that, in principle, it works 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, meaning there is no need for people to check and control the heating output. 

Gas Pressure Regulators of Gasolec B.V. in your poultry- and pig houses

We at Gasolec B.V. as well as our partners, would like to advise you in the choice of the proper gas pressure regulating system in your poultry and pig houses. We look at your situation and your wishes and together we help you in choosing the optimum solution for you. 

You can find more information on our various Gas Pressure Regulation Systems on our website. For further information please contact our partners or Gasolec B.V. directly.