I'm in the early stages of putting together a bigger/better smelter. I have a sanitized 20# propane tank for the pot. It will be surrounded with 2" of Cerawool insulation. Pot and insulation & jacket will be separate from the burner & base for convenience in transporting.
Now I'm debating what to use for a burner. I would like to get away from the roar of the burner on a plumbers furnace but I have one of those I could mount to a commercially made stand. I can buy a 200K BTU(10" dia.) banjo burner which would be quiet to work around but I'm not sure how much heat I really need. Smaller banjo burners are available. I was thinking that the 10" burner would put flame over just about all of the 12" pot diameter.
I spent some time on the 'net trying find out the BTUs on a plumbers pot burner to use that as a starting point. Only thing I found was one that was rated for 43K BTU, which seems a bit small.
I smelt 5-700 lbs. once every couple years and I'm not a patient person. Waiting for lead to melt rates right up there with watching paint dry.
What works for burners under propane tank pots that some of you guys have?