In the course of a communication presented to the Societe Industrielle
du Nord de la France by the manager of the Wazemmes Gas Company, he
made the following remarks on gas lighting with high-power burners:
For gas of a standard illuminating value, the lighting power increases
with the temperature of the flame. It also increases, under favorable
conditions, if the quantity of gas consumed by the burner in a certain
period is augmented. Thus, two burners consuming 60 liters (rather
more than 2 cubic feet) of gas, placed in juxtaposition, produce less
light than one burner consuming 120 liters. As it is impossible to
indefinitely increase the supply to ordinary burners, multiple-flame
burners have been invented, in which two or more ordinary flames are
united so that they may impinge upon each other. By an ingenious
arrangement for bringing the air into contact with the multiple
flames, two excellent types of lamps are obtained, consuming
respectively 700 and 1,400 liters per hour, which meet with a rapid
demand in Paris, and in many other towns, for lighting wide public
thoroughfares, squares, and large open spaces. If, however, it is
desired to obtain a flame with a much higher temperature, it is
necessary to resort to a special arrangement for heating the air
intended for combustion with the gas. The principle of heating the air
by means of waste heat escaping with the products of the waste
gas--the regenerative principle--was adopted by Mr. F. Siemens, and
applied not only to gas burners, but to high temperature stoves. With
the Siemens burner on the regenerative principle the following results
are obtained: With a consumption of 150 liters per hour, the light of
from 1 to 3 carcels; 250 to 300 liters, 6 to 7 carcels; 600 liters, 15
carcels; 800 liters, 20 to 22 carcels; 1,600 liters, 46 to 48 carcels;
2,200 liters, 72 carcels. Unfortunately, the construction of the
Siemens Argand lamps is very delicate, and, moreover, they have the
disadvantage of being heavy and rather unsightly. In Germany they have
been widely adopted; but in France they have met with but little
success. The Schulke lamp is made on the same principle; and this
appears to be too delicate to come into general use. One of the latest
burners of the regenerative class is the Wenham, which has been before
the public for some time in England and is now being adopted in
France. In point of fact it is merely a very effective improvement on
Breittmayer's burner, from which it differs only in its construction;
being produced in some elegant styles, which lend themselves perfectly
to the decorations of private houses. The No. 2 lamp of this type,
with a consumption of 283 liters (10 cubic feet) per hour, has given
126 candles, in a vertical direction without reflectors: horizontally,
50 candles. But the gas employed in the tests had an illuminating
power about 20 per cent. higher than that usual in Paris. When
experimenting in Paris with a No. 3 lamp in a vertical direction, it
showed a consumption of 34.6 liters (1.2 cubic feet) per carcel
obtained. The Wenham lamp is constructed to give light in a vertical
direction; and by adopting a large reflector, the illuminating power
is increased 18 per cent. in a vertical line and 55 per cent. at 80°,
which is a highly satisfactory result. There are at present five sizes
of these lamps. There is also the Delmas hot air burner, in which the
batswing flame is completely inclosed in a glass, mounted with a
sheet-iron casing, heated by the products of combustion, through which
the air passes on its passage downward to feed the flame; and it thus
increases the temperature, improves the illuminating power, and
produces a beautiful steady light. Mention also may be made of the
Siemens radiated heat burner, by means of which the heating of the air
is effected simply by the radiation of the metallic parts of the
appliance which are in contact with the flame. These burners produce
the light of 1 carcel (9.5 candles) with a gas consumption of 70
liters (about 2½ cubic feet), and are therefore, from an economical
point of view, intermediary between the high power and regenerative
burners. This degree of economy can be ascertained by an ingenious
arrangement of the air supply in a burner with holes, which has been
made in the laboratory of the Wazemmes Gas Company by M. Verlé, the
engineer, who has invented a very simple burner called the "Lillois,"
with which the light of 1 carcel is obtained with a consumption of 70
liters. This produces a tulip-shaped flame, and it has a specially
constructed glass arrangement on the outside for regulating the
combustion. Comparing the above-mentioned burners with each other, we
arrive at the following results: The "Lillois" burner consumes 70
liters of gas per carcel; the Siemens ordinary, 70 liters; the
Siemens-Breittmayer, 35 to 39 liters; the Wenham, about 35 liters.
Taking this into account, and considering that a carcel corresponds
with 105 liters of gas consumed in the Bengal form of burner, we see
that the economy in gas might, by employing these burners, reach from
33 to 71 per cent. If this is compared with the batswing burner, which
produces the light of 1 carcel with a consumption of 120 liters of
gas, the economy is greater--varying, according to the type of lamp,
from 41 to 85 per cent.
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