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GAS BURNERS
OLD AND NEW.
GAS BURNERS
OLD AND NEW.
A Historical and Descriptive Treatise
ON THE
PROGRESS OF INVENTION IN GAS LIGHTING;
EMBRACING AN ACCOUNT
OF THE
THEORY OF LUMINOUS COMBUSTION.
BY
"OWEN MERRIMAN."
_Reprinted from the_ JOURNAL OF GAS LIGHTING.
London:
WALTER KING,
11, BOLT COURT, FLEET STREET, E. C.
1884.
W. KING AND SELL, PRINTERS,
12, GOUGH SQUARE, FLEET STREET,
LONDON.
Transcriber's Note: Figure 11 and Figure 12 are identical.
PREFACE.
The little work here presented to the public appeared originally in
the pages of the _Journal of Gas Lighting_. In the hope that it
may thereby become of service to a wider circle of readers, it has
been revised and done into its present shape. The object of the writer
will be attained if it is the means of lessening, in any degree, the
suspicion and prejudice (born of ignorance) which, alas! yet prevail
with regard to gas and gas lighting.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 9
THE FIRST GAS-BURNER 13
THE BATSWING BURNER 15
THE UNION-JET OR FISHTAIL BURNER 17
HOW LIGHT IS PRODUCED FROM COAL GAS 20
IMPROVEMENTS IN FLAT-FLAME BURNERS 25
BROeNNER'S BURNERS 31
THE HOLLOW-TOP BURNER 35
BRAY'S BURNERS 38
ARGAND BURNERS 44
SUGG'S ARGANDS 48
THE DOUGLASS BURNER 52
GOVERNOR BURNERS 55
REGENERATIVE BURNERS 61
INCANDESCENT BURNERS 73
CONCLUSION 79
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
[Sidenote: Gas consumers and gas producers.]
The subject of gas-burners and the development of light from coal gas
is of considerable interest, alike to the consumer and the producer of
gas. When it is known that one burner may develop twice as much light
as another, for the same consumption of gas--the first cost of the one
being no higher than that of the other--its importance to the former
will scarcely be disputed. To the gas consumer it is obviously of great
value to know how he may most effectively and economically develop the
illuminating power of the gas which is supplied to him; and so obtain
the fullest return, in lighting effect, for the money which he expends.
Not quite so obvious is its relation to the latter. To a person totally
unacquainted with the recent history of gas lighting, and ignorant of
the policy which has guided the most prosperous gas undertakings to
their successful issues, it may appear that the manufacturer of gas is
not closely concerned with the utilization of the commodity which he
supplies. Such an one might argue, and with a certain show of reason,
that the sole business of the gas maker is with its production; that
after providing, in the consumer's service-pipe, a full and continuous
supply of gas, of the stipulated quality, his care ends; and that
henceforth the utilization and management of the illuminant rests with
the consumer himself. But, by any one who is at all conversant with the
subject, it will be readily conceded that the interest of the
manufacturer of gas, in this matter, is only second to that of the
consumer. In the gas industry, as in any other business undertaking,
the concern prospers or declines according as the interests of the
customers are considered or neglected. This has been conclusively
demonstrated in the history of many gas undertakings. So long as their
management was conducted in exclusive and selfish regard solely to
their own internal affairs--looking with supreme indifference or
careless apathy upon the needs of the consumers--so long was their
career marked by difficulties and embarrassments. No sooner, however,
were the claims of the consumers recognized, and efforts put forth to
further their interests, than the prospects of the concern brightened;
and by adhering to, and extending the same line of action, the goal of
commercial prosperity was eventually reached.
Seeing, therefore, that the subject is of so supreme importance to
consumers of gas, and that the interests of the consumer are closely
interwoven with those of the manufacturer, it is eminently desirable
that there should be more generally diffused a correct knowledge of the
principles of economical gas consumption, and of the extent to which
these principles are applied in the various burners which, from time to
time, have been invented. No further apology ought therefore to be
required in presenting to the reader the following disquisition on
gas-burners. It may, however, be of advantage for me to state in brief,
at the commencement, what are the objects I have in view, and what the
chief considerations which have led me to write this treatise.
[Sidenote: Waste of gas.]
I purpose, then, to tell of the progress that has been made in
apparatus for the development of light from coal gas; to relate how
the crude and imperfect devices of the early inventors have been
gradually improved upon; and, while not ignoring the drawbacks connected
with recently invented burners, or the defects inherent to their
construction, to show, in the superior achievements of these burners,
how great an advance has been made upon the apparatus formerly in use.
It will be, also, my endeavour to make plain the little understood
phenomenon of the production of light by the combustion of coal gas;
and to show the extent to which the illuminating power developed is
dependent upon the burner employed. That there is need for such
information as I propose to furnish must be sufficiently obvious to any
one who has considered the waste of gas which takes place through
ignorance of the laws of its combustion, and through the use of
defective burners. In a report presented to the Board of Trade by the
London Gas Referees in 1871, it was stated that a number of burners had
been tested, taken from various places of business in the Metropolis;
the major portion of which gave out only one-half, and some of them not
more than one-fourth, of the illuminating power capable of being
developed from the gas. Although, since the time that report was
penned, considerable progress has been made in the construction of
burners, and in the more general adoption of efficient burners by the
public, much yet remains to be done. Doubtless it would still be within
the mark to assert that fully one-fifth of the gas consumed by the
public might be saved by the adoption of better burners, and by the
observance of the conditions necessary for their satisfactory
operation; and when it is borne in mind that the gas-rental of the
United Kingdom amounts to a sum of certainly not less than L9,000,000
per annum, the saving which might be effected assumes truly great
proportions.
The field on which I propose to enter can hardly be said to be already
occupied. Nowhere that I know of is the subject of gas-burners fully
treated of in a manner available for the general reader. With the
exception of the admirable chapter contributed by Mr. R. H. Patterson
to "King's Treatise on Coal Gas," I am not aware that the subject
has been dealt with to any complete extent by recent writers. But,
admirable as is that contribution to the literature of the subject,
being written for technical readers, it is neither so popular in style
nor so elementary in character as to fulfil the purpose which I have in
view in writing the present series of articles. Briefly stated, my sole
purpose is to make the subject of the combustion of gas for the
production of light intelligible to the simplest; and to present an
interesting account of the progress of invention in the perfection of
gas-burners. While passing lightly over many modifications of apparatus
which have been of but limited or temporary service, I shall not
scruple to dwell at length upon such burners as have done much to
further the extension of gas lighting, or whose construction exhibits
a considerable advance upon previous attainments. And while it will
be my endeavour to clothe my remarks in such language as shall be
"understanded of the people," in speaking of the theory of combustion I
hope to be sufficiently explicit to enable my readers to form a clear
conception of the scientific principles underlying the phenomena of
which I treat.
[Sidenote: Progress of gas lighting.]
A further justification--if such, indeed, were needed--for the
appearance of this treatise might be found in the remarkable impetus
which has been given, within recent years, to the perfection of the
details of gas manufacture and the improvement of gas-burners. Of
course, I refer to the beneficial consequences to the gas industry
which have followed the brief, if conspicuous, career of electricity as
an illuminating agent. That the interest in improved illumination which
has been aroused by the short-lived popularity of the electric light,
and the extravagant claims put forward on its behalf, have stimulated
to the development of the resources of gas lighting, is sufficiently
obvious to the most superficial observer. And not only has the
manufacturer of gas been benefited, but the public have reaped no
inconsiderable advantage. At the present day, gas is sold at a far
cheaper rate, as well as of a higher quality, than at any former
period. Nor is the advent of cheap gas the only direction in which the
public have gained. Although not so patent to the majority, the
improvements that have been effected in the methods of burning gas, so
as to obtain the fullest advantage from its use, are calculated to
confer benefits equally real, and not less valuable. It is hardly too
much to say that the last few years have witnessed a greater advance in
the apparatus employed in the combustion of gas than had been effected
during the whole previous history of gas lighting. This being so, it
may not be unacceptable if I attempt to pass in review some of the
various burners that have been invented and used for obtaining light
from coal gas; showing the successive improvements that are exhibited
in their construction, and the extent to which they apply the
principles of combustion. It may be that what I have to relate will
awaken some minds to the consciousness that gas lighting has not
altogether retired into obscurity on the advent of electricity--nay,
that it has even assumed a bolder front; and, with increased resources
and accession of strength, is prepared firmly to maintain its position
as at once the most convenient, economical, and reliable of artificial
illuminants.