What Is a Natural Gas Regulator?

A natural gas regulator receives external gas from a line under very high pressure. It plays an important role in the safety of the people operating it, may it be in an industrial (furnace, gas engines and boilers) or commercial purpose (natural gas appliance). It is also programmed to control and monitor the amount of pressure of the natural gas running, depending on the product specifications. Another main safety feature is that it can restrict the flow of natural gas so that the excess fuel does not enter the homes.

Regulator Parts

A natural gas regulator has a set of internal valves that either increases or decreases the pressure of the gas to a specific level that the appliance is designed to function at. There are three main parts: the loading mechanism, sensor element and control device, which all work to control the amount of pressure of the gas.

Setting the Regulator

The regulator setting is restricted by the loading mechanism which is fixed at the manufacturing process. There is an internal spring inside that compresses whenever the regulator is turned. The pressure inserted to the spring is relayed to the sensor element and then bounces to the control element to regulate the outgoing pressure of the gas.