Gas burner

“ By applying a blast of air at the ordinary gas jets, and supplying the gas by a separate pipe, or series of pipes, below the open end of the burner, this can be converted into a furnace of extraordinary power. It is quite possible to burn as much as 2,000 cubic feet of gas per hour per square foot of burner surface, producing a heat sufficient to fuse any ordinary crucible. You see its power when I place a bundle of iron wire in the flame; it is, in fact, a concentration of hundreds or thousands of powerful blowpipe flames in one mass. ”

“ In the next place, the flow of the gas must be regulated to the burner, as, if you have a pressure higher than that for which the burner is constructed, you at once obtain a roaring flame and a loss of illuminating power, as the too rapid rush of gas from the burner causes a mingling of gas and air and a consequent cooling of the flame. The tap also which regulates the flame is better at a distance from the burner than close to it, as any constriction near the burner causes eddies, which give an unsteady flame. ”

“ The gasoline and alcohol flames have their drawbacks, one of which is the starting of the burner and the waiting for the heat. They are also unhandy in directing the flame on parts of the work. As I desired a burner for quick work and one whose flame I could direct at any angle, for repoussé and chasing on copper and silversmith's work, I made the one shown in the sketch to attach to a hose and connected it with the gas pipe of the illuminating system in the house. ”

“ The fuel is forced to the burner from a pressure tank. With this improved mouthpiece burner control, the burner may be adjusted for a slug of any size. The best results can be obtained from a gasoline or kerosene burner by keeping it clean.
GAS BURNERS
The gas burner used to heat the metal pot is made up of three sections. The largest burner heats the main part of the pot. Another pipe leads up to heat the throat, and a small burner heats the mouthpiece. The pot and throat [Pg 56] burners are held near the pot by a rod which passes through the pot jacket and under the pot burner. ”

“ On the burner being lighted from below, the products of combustion rise in the inner chimney, and enter the heater, which they traverse through its entire extent, while impinging against the outside of the gas reservoir, to which they give up a large portion of their heat. They then pass by the passage, D, into the atmosphere or into a chimney. The air necessary for combustion enters at the top of the outer globe, and becomes highly heated in its passage through the space comprised between the two glasses of the burner. ”

“ The additional light is not caused, as some of you may suppose, by a combined burner, as I have here a simple one, burning the same quantity of gas as the two smaller burners together; and the advantage of the simple large burner is quite as great. It is a well-known fact that the larger the gas consumption in a single flame, the higher the duty obtained for the gas burnt. There is a practical limit to this with ordinary simple burners; as when they are too large they are very sensitive to draught, and liable to unsteadiness and smoking. ”

“ The gas-burner is situated midway between the grooved pulleys, and so mounted beneath the thread that it will automatically swivel sideways and thus move the flame away from a stationary thread. Winding begins slightly before the flame moves beneath a thread, and the rapid motion of the latter permits the flame to burn off undesirable matters without injuring the thread. ”

“ The size, form and intensity of the gas flame, are regulated by simply turning the stop-cock which admits the gas to the burner or lamp. The flame may at command be made to burn with an intensity sufficient to illuminate every corner of a room, or so low and dim, as barely to be perceived. ”

“ In every case I have seen, without one single exception, the holes are either too small, or the burner is placed too close, and the consequence is that the gas, instead of burning inside the holes, as it should, passes through partially unburnt, and is consumed at the opposite end, where it is absolutely useless, the flame not being in contact with or under the surface to be heated, and therefore doing no work. ”

“ What a Bunsen Burner Is. —This is a burner in which a jet of ordinary illuminating gas is mixed with air, the amount being regulated by a ring which opens and closes the air holes in the burner.
A Bunsen burner makes a very hot flame because the gas in the tube moves faster than in an ordinary burner and the oxygen in the air aids the gas to burn. A plain Bunsen burner is shown at A, in Fig. 87. If you have no gas in your house you can use an [210] alcohol lamp [100] which you can either buy or make for yourself. ”

“ Many processes, such as making oil and turpentine varnishes, require a heat under instant control, and in these the use of gas is an important matter, as the loss and risk of fire are very serious elements of expense, more especially in small works where special and costly preparations for contingencies cannot be afforded. I have here a burner which, for its power, is, perhaps, the most compact and gives the highest temperature of any burner yet known, and it is easily made in almost any size ”

“ For many years no advance was made upon these forms of burner, but when, ten years ago, it was recognized that anything which cools the flame reduces its value, while anything which increases its temperature raises its illuminating power, then a change took place in the forms of burner in use, and the regenerative burners, introduced by such men as Siemens, Grimston, and Bower, commenced what was really a revolution in gas lighting. ”

“ When the gas is issuing from the burner at so low a pressure that the flame is just on the point of smoking, the maximum effect for the quantity of gas consumed in that particular burner is attained, because in that case the quantity and intensity of the light are most advantageously balanced. For the same reason, the burner best suited for light is one in which the jet-openings are proportionately large, so as to prevent as much as possible too great contact with the air in the lower part of the flame. ”

“ PART XIII. Gas Lamps, and Burners. The lamps or burners for the combustion of coal gas, may be infinitely and tastefully varied. The varieties commonly employed, are the Argand burner, the Cockspur burner, and the Bat’s Wing burner.
The Argand burner, fig. 10, and 11, plate V., consists of two concentric brass tubes, about one and a half inch long, and seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, (the largest size burner employed.) ”

“ The process of burning acetylene gas, which consists in projecting a small cylinder of gas, in surrounding the same with an envelop of air insufficient to cause combustion of all the gas, and in finally supplying the gas with an additional amount of oxygen by allowing the stream of gas to expand ABOVE THE BURNER TIP INTO CONTACT WITH THe air, thereby burning the same, substantially as described. ”

“ The “air-burner,” which is of such value in the laboratory, owes its advantage to this principle. It consists of a cylindrical metal chimney, covered at the top with a piece of rather coarse iron-wire gauze. This is supported over an argand burner, in such a manner that the gas may mix in the chimney with an amount of air sufficient to burn the carbon and hydrogen simultaneously, so that there may be no separation of carbon in the flame with consequent deposition of soot. The flame, being unable to pass through the wire gauze, burns in a steady, nearly invisible manner above. ”

“ Open-flame burners are used for acetylene gas because no mantle burner has been constructed which will operate reliably with this rich gas.
Acetylene gas gives about ten times as much light per cubic foot as manufactured gas burned in an open flame. The burners require little care. Sometimes the holes in burners become stopped, and they should be cleaned out with a fine pointed instrument like a needle. When they do not work well, it pays to replace the old tips with new ones. ”

“ If the gases are cooled too much, they will either fall back into the lamp and extinguish the flame, or will be removable only by the draught of a long chimney. It will probably be the aim of the inventor to balance these requirements, and so to produce burners with very short or longer chimneys, according as appearance is to be consulted or the highest possible effect produced. The burner is a ring of brass tubes of considerable diameter, in proportion to the quantity of gas consumed, and thus provides for the delivery of gas expanded by heat. ”

“ Indeed, this simple, but as we now regard it, inefficient burner, would probably have remained the best-known type for many years longer than it did had not the possibilities of lighting by electricity aroused persons interested in the great gas-plants to the fact that the new illuminant was jeopardizing their enormous investments; making it clear that they must bestir themselves and improve their flat burners if they would arrest disaster. ”

“ If the air which is to support the combustion be heated before it reaches the flame, especially in the case of flat-flame burners, better results are produced, as was pointed out by Prof. Frankland more than 10 years ago, and this principle is now being carried out by some Continental burner makers. Of modern argands there are many excellent varieties, which can evolve 15-30 per cent. more light for the same quantity of gas than the best flat-flame burners. ”

“ All the parts of the burner are thus surrounded by a highly-heated atmosphere, especially at the bottom of the double chimney; and it will be readily understood that, if the branches which lead the gas to the burner are constructed of a highly conductive metal, the gas will become heated in its turn by passing through passages raised to a high temperature. ”

“ One good burner of modern type under each shade ought, with fairly good gas, to be sufficient for all purposes. It will save a great deal of gas as compared with the ring burner, and will cause fewer headaches. ”

“ If the hot-tube system of ignition be employed, the Bunsen burner is ignited, care being taken that the flame emerging from the tube is blue in color. If necessary the admission of air to the burner is regulated by the usual adjusting-sleeve. A white or smoky flame indicates an insufficient supply of air to the burner. ”

“ If less heat is desired, the cocks are turned half off. It is not permissible to entirely extinguish some of the burners, unless the unused pipes are closed to prevent the products of combustion coming back into the room. The consumption of gas per burner, full open, with a pressure of 8/10, is said to be only 4-3/8 cubic feet per hour. ”

“ Phosphorus wrapped in paper, and struck with a hammer on an anvil, will likewise enflame.
THE DANCING FLAME.
Make a very small gas jet, to which fit a minute burner; Sugg’s steatite pinhole burner answers best. Above the burner, at a distance of two inches, fix a seven-inch square piece of wire gauze; ordinary window-blind gauze of thirty-two meshes to the lineal inch acts perfectly. Turn the gas on, and light the flame above the gauze. Keep the room free from draught, and the flame will be steady; but at the least sound the flame is certain to move. ”

“ The heated gas becomes cooled so much (to about 100° Fahr.) that water is condensed and precipitated, and collects in the vessel below the outlet. Each burner has a separate cock, by which it may be kept closed, half-open, or open. To obviate danger of explosion, there is a strip of sheet iron in front of the burners, which prevents their being lighted when in a vertical position; so that, in case any unburned gas gets into the pipes, it cannot be ignited, for the burners can only be lighted when inclined to the front. In starting the stove the burners are lighted, in the inclined position ”

“ Very frequently they will allow the supply of gasoline in the carburetor to run nearly out before they replenish it, in which case the gas comes to the burners in a thinner quality, and in order to provide the same volume of heat, it is necessary to adjust the burner valves and throw a larger stream of gas into the burner. ”

“ The greatest care is required in using a gasoline stove; in fact, they are so dangerous, that they should not be highly recommended for household use. The description and care of them are given here because some persons persist in using them when they desire a quick, hot fire in cases where fuel gas is not available.
33. When a Burner Blazes and Cannot Be Controlled. When a gasoline stove burner blazes and cannot be controlled, first close the valve leading from the tank into the pipe. There will then be little gasoline to burn, and no gases can get back into the tank. ”

“ This would effect not merely “smoke abatement” but “smoke extinction” so far as cooking is concerned. But the lighting of fires is no longer a troublesome and costly process as in the days of halfpenny bundles of firewood. To say nothing of the improved fire-lighters, we have gas everywhere, and nothing is easier than to fix or place a suitable Bunsen or solid flame burner under each of the fireplaces (an iron gaspipe, perforated below to avoid clogging, will do) , and in two or three minutes the coals are in full blaze; then the gas may be turned off. ”

“ The combustion of gas and kerosene in living rooms rapidly vitiates the air. Each burner will use up as much oxygen as several persons, besides generating heat, moisture and often sulphurous acid gas, specially injurious to nose and throat. Stoves or grates for heating or cooking by gas should invariably be connected to a-flue to carry off the products of combustion. ”