Acetylene Lamp
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A carbide lamp or acetylene gas lamp is a simple lamp that produces and burns
acetylene Acetylene (Chemical nomenclature, systematic name: ethyne) is a chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is u ...
(C2H2), which is created by the reaction of
calcium carbide Calcium carbide, also known as calcium acetylide, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula of . Its main use industrially is in the production of acetylene and calcium cyanamide. The pure material is colorless, while pieces of technica ...
(CaC2) with
water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...
(H2O). Acetylene gas lamps were used to illuminate buildings, as
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...
beacons, and as headlights on motor-cars and bicycles. Portable acetylene gas lamps, worn on the hat or carried by hand, were widely used in mining in the early twentieth century. They are still employed by cavers, hunters, and cataphiles.


History

In 1892, Thomas Willson discovered an economically efficient process for creating calcium carbide in an
electric arc furnace An electric arc furnace (EAF) is a Industrial furnace, furnace that heats material by means of an electric arc. Industrial arc furnaces range in size from small units of approximately one-tonne capacity (used in foundry, foundries for producin ...
from a mixture of lime and coke. The arc furnace provides the high temperature required to drive the reaction. Manufacture of calcium carbide was an important part of the industrial revolution in chemistry, and was made possible in the United States as a result of massive amounts of inexpensive hydroelectric power produced at
Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...
before the turn of the twentieth century. In 1895, Willson sold his patent to
Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is an American chemical company headquartered in Seadrift, Texas. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company since 2001. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more f ...
. Domestic lighting with acetylene gas was introduced circa 1894 and bicycle lamps from 1896. In France,
Gustave Trouvé Gustave Pierre Trouvé (2 January 1839 – 27 July 1902) was a French electrical engineer and inventor in the 19th century. A polymath, he was highly respected for his innovative skill in miniaturization. Early life and education Gustave Trouvé ...
, a Parisian electrical engineer, also made domestic acetylene lamps and gasometers. The first carbide bicycle lamp developed in the United States was
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
ed in
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on August 28, 1900, by Frederick Baldwin. Another early lamp design is shown in a
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
from
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from October 21, 1902. In the early 1900s,
Gustaf Dalén Nils Gustaf Dalén (; 30 November 1869 – 9 December 1937) was a Swedish engineer and inventor who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1912 "for his invention of Sun valve, automatic regulators for use in conjunction with gas accumulators fo ...
invented the
Dalén light A Dalén light is a flashing light produced from burning of carbide gas (acetylene), combined with a solar sensor which automatically operates the light only during darkness. Overview In the last quarter of the 19th century navigation buoys bega ...
. This combined two of Dalén's previous inventions, namely the substrate
Agamassan Agamassan is a porous substrate used to safely absorb acetylene and thus allow the transport, storage and commercial use of the otherwise unstable gas. It was developed and patented by the Swedish Nobel Laureate and industrialist Gustaf Dalén. ...
and the Sun valve. Inventions and improvements to carbide lamps continued for decades. After carbide lamp open flames were implicated in the 1932 Moweaqua Coal Mine disaster, an Illinois coal-seam methane gas explosion that killed 54 miners, carbide lamp use declined in United States coal mines. They continued to be used in the coal pits of other countries, notably the
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.


Mechanism

A mining or caving lamp has calcium carbide placed in a lower chamber, the generator. The upper reservoir is then filled with water. A threaded valve or other mechanism is used to control the rate at which the water is allowed to drip into the chamber containing the calcium carbide. By controlling the rate of water flow, the production of acetylene gas is controlled. This, in turn, controls the flow rate of the gas and the size of the flame at the burner, and thus the amount of light it produces. This type of lamp generally has a reflector behind the flame to help project the light forward. An acetylene gas powered lamp produces a bright, broad light. Many cavers prefer this type of unfocused light as it improves peripheral vision in the complete dark. The reaction of carbide with water is exothermic and produces a fair amount of heat independent of the flame. In cold caves, carbide lamp users can use this heat to help stave off hypothermia. Acetylene is produced by the reaction: : CaC2( s) + 2H2O( l)C2H2( g) + Ca(OH)2( aq) The acetylene combusts easily in the
atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...
: : 2 C2H2 + 5O2 → 4CO2 + 2H2O + Δ''H'' = −1300  kJ/mol When all of the carbide in a lamp has been reacted, the carbide chamber contains a wet paste of slaked lime ( Ca(OH)2) which can be used to make a
cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...
. This is emptied into a waste bag and the chamber can be refilled.


Uses


Lighting systems

Carbide lighting was used in rural and urban areas of the United States which were not served by
electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...
. Its use began shortly after 1900 and continued past 1950.
Calcium carbide Calcium carbide, also known as calcium acetylide, is a chemical compound with the chemical formula of . Its main use industrially is in the production of acetylene and calcium cyanamide. The pure material is colorless, while pieces of technica ...
pellets were placed in a container outside the home, with water piped to the container and allowed to drip on the pellets releasing acetylene. This gas was piped to
light fixture A light fixture (US English), light fitting (UK English), or luminaire is an electrical lighting device containing one or more light sources, such as lamps, and all the accessory components required for its operation to provide illumination to ...
s inside the house, where it was burned, creating a very bright flame. Carbide lighting was inexpensive, but was prone to
gas leak A gas leak refers to a leak of natural gas or another gaseous product from a pipeline or other containment into any area where the gas should not be present. Gas leaks can be hazardous to health as well as the environment. Even a small leak into ...
s and explosions. Early models of the automobile, car, motorbike and bicycle used carbide lamps as
headlamp A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for t ...
s. Acetylene gas, derived from carbide, enabled early automobiles to drive safely at night. Thick concave mirrors combined with magnifying lenses projected the acetylene flame light. These types of lights were used until reliable batteries and dynamos became available, and manufacturers switched to electric lights. Acetylene lamps were also used on riverboats for night navigation. The
National Museum of Australia The National Museum of Australia (NMA), in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''Nation ...
has a lamp made in about 1910 that was used on board , a
paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...
which has been restored to working order and also in the museum's collection. They are also used for night hunting.


Caving

Early
caving Caving, also known as spelunking (United States and Canada) and potholing (United Kingdom and Ireland), is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is the scientific ...
enthusiasts, not yet having the advantage of light-weight electrical illumination, introduced the carbide lamp to their hobby. Many cavers favour carbide lamps for their durability and quality of illumination. They were once favoured for their relative illumination per mass of fuel compared to battery-powered devices. Before the advent of high-intensity
light-emitting diode A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corre ...
(LED) illumination with lithium-ion batteries, carbide also had two important advantages over the alternative of miners electric lamps. Miner's lamps were intended to last for the duration of a standard working shift, whilst major caving explorations could be much longer, so the carbide could be replenished during the trip. Expeditions involving camping over several days in remote regions might not have access to electricity for recharging. Lamps used in such circumstances would consist of a belt-mounted gas generator linked by flexible pipe to a headset. The acetylene producing reaction is
exothermic In thermodynamics, an exothermic process () is a thermodynamic process or reaction that releases energy from the system to its surroundings, usually in the form of heat, but also in a form of light (e.g. a spark, flame, or flash), electricity (e ...
, which means that the lamp's reactor vessel will become quite warm to the touch; this can be used to warm the hands. The heat from the flame can also be used to warm the body by allowing the exhaust gases to flow under a shirt or poncho pulled out from the body, a technique discovered almost immediately by cold miners, and nicknamed by cavers the "Palmer furnace". The lamps are sometimes called "stinkies" because of their odour.


Glare reduction

Small carbide lamps called "carbide candles" or "smokers" are used for blackening rifle sights to reduce glare. They are sometimes referred to as "smokers" because of the
soot Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. Soot is considered a hazardous substance with carcinogenic properties. Most broadly, the term includes all the particulate matter produced b ...
y flame produced by acetylene.


See also

* * *


Notes


References

* * * *


External links


acethylene.com
A comprehensive guide to the care and maintenance of acetylene gas lamps
A User's Guide to Carbide Cap Lamps.
Has many good pictures & videos.
Carbide lamp
Demonstration experiment: Instruction and video
The Carbide Caver
A website on the history, restoration, and use of carbide lamps for caving. {{Authority control Types of lamp Caving equipment Gas technologies Industrial gases Synthetic fuel technologies