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124-427: Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as methane , propane , butane , acetylene , ethylene , hydrogen , carbon monoxide , coal gas (town gas) or natural gas . The light is produced either directly by the flame, generally by using special mixes (typically propane or butane) of illuminating gas to increase brightness, or indirectly with other components such as

248-503: A Bachelor of Divinity in 1711. Hales remained in Teddington for the rest of his life, except for occasional visits to his other parishes. He was an assiduous minister – in addition to parish duties he enlarged and repaired the church and commissioned a new water supply for the village – and well regarded although there is some evidence that his experimental work on animal physiology was viewed with misgivings. Thomas Twining included

372-458: A Manchester cotton mill in 1806. In 1901, studies of the defoliant effect of leaking gas pipes led to the discovery that ethylene is a plant hormone . Throughout the 19th century and into the first decades of the 20th, the gas was manufactured by the gasification of coal. Later in the 19th century, natural gas began to replace coal gas, first in the US, and then in other parts of the world. In

496-817: A candle 's flame takes the shape of a sphere. ). Microgravity combustion research contributes to the understanding of a wide variety of aspects that are relevant to both the environment of a spacecraft (e.g., fire dynamics relevant to crew safety on the International Space Station ) and terrestrial (Earth-based) conditions (e.g., droplet combustion dynamics to assist developing new fuel blends for improved combustion, materials fabrication processes , thermal management of electronic systems , multiphase flow boiling dynamics, and many others). Combustion processes that happen in very small volumes are considered micro-combustion . The high surface-to-volume ratio increases specific heat loss. Quenching distance plays

620-412: A detonation . The type of burning that actually occurs depends on the degree to which the fuel and oxidizer are mixed prior to heating: for example, a diffusion flame is formed if the fuel and oxidizer are separated initially, whereas a premixed flame is formed otherwise. Similarly, the type of burning also depends on the pressure: a detonation, for example, is an autoignitive reaction front coupled to

744-399: A triplet spin state . Bonding can be described with three bonding electron pairs and two antibonding electrons, with spins aligned, such that the molecule has nonzero total angular momentum. Most fuels, on the other hand, are in a singlet state, with paired spins and zero total angular momentum. Interaction between the two is quantum mechanically a " forbidden transition ", i.e. possible with

868-516: A Candle approaching to it. Imparted by Thomas Shirley, Esq an eye-witness." British clergyman and scientist Stephen Hales experimented with the actual distillation of coal, thereby obtaining a flammable liquid. He reported his results in the first volume of his Vegetable Statics , published in 1726. From the distillation of "one hundred and fifty-eight grains [10.2 g] of Newcastle coal, he stated that he obtained 180 cubic inches [2.9 L] of gas, which weighed 51 grains [3.3 g], being nearly one third of

992-514: A candle as it escaped from a fracture in one of his distillation vessels. He stored the coal gas in bladders, and at times he entertained his friends by demonstrating the flammability of the gas. Clayton published his findings in Philosophical Transactions . It took nearly 200 years for gas to become accessible for commercial use. A Flemish alchemist, Jan Baptista van Helmont , was the first person to formally recognize gas as

1116-444: A cigarette, a short-circuited wire) and the persistent combustion of biomass behind the flaming fronts of wildfires . Spontaneous combustion is a type of combustion that occurs by self-heating (increase in temperature due to exothermic internal reactions), followed by thermal runaway (self-heating which rapidly accelerates to high temperatures) and finally, ignition. For example, phosphorus self-ignites at room temperature without

1240-442: A course of lectures on chemistry , at Manchester , in which he showed the mode of producing gas from coal, and the facility and advantage of its use. Dr Henry analysed the composition and investigated the properties of carburetted hydrogen gas (i.e. methane). His experiments were numerous and accurate and made upon a variety of substances; having obtained the gas from wood, peat , different kinds of coal, oil, wax, etc., he quantified

1364-499: A gas lighting with copper apparatuses and chandeliers of ink , brass and crystal , reportedly one of the first such public installations of gas lighting in the region, enhanced as a triumphal arch for the city gate for a royal visit of Charles XIV John of Sweden in 1820. By 1823, numerous towns and cities throughout Britain were lit by gas. Gas light cost up to 75% less than oil lamps or candles, which helped to accelerate its development and deployment. By 1859, gas lighting

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1488-548: A given offgas temperature, the NOx level is lowest when excess oxygen is kept lowest. Adherence to these two principles is furthered by making material and heat balances on the combustion process. The material balance directly relates the air/fuel ratio to the percentage of O 2 in the combustion gas. The heat balance relates the heat available for the charge to the overall net heat produced by fuel combustion. Additional material and heat balances can be made to quantify

1612-463: A hydroperoxide radical (HOO). This reacts further to give hydroperoxides, which break up to give hydroxyl radicals . There are a great variety of these processes that produce fuel radicals and oxidizing radicals. Oxidizing species include singlet oxygen, hydroxyl, monatomic oxygen, and hydroperoxyl . Such intermediates are short-lived and cannot be isolated. However, non-radical intermediates are stable and are produced in incomplete combustion. An example

1736-427: A method for purifying coal gas by means of the chemical action of ammoniacal gas. Another plan was devised by Reuben Phillips, of Exeter , who patented the purification of coal gas by the use of dry lime . G. Holworthy, in 1818, patented a method of purifying it by passing the gas, in a highly condensed state, through iron retorts heated to a dark red. In 1820, Swedish inventor Johan Patrik Ljungström had developed

1860-402: A much brighter light than natural gas or water gas . Illuminating gas was much less toxic than other forms of coal gas, but less could be produced from a given quantity of coal. The experiments with distilling coal were described by John Clayton in 1684. George Dixon's pilot plant exploded in 1760, setting back the production of illuminating gas a few years. The first commercial application was in

1984-492: A performance, or having to light each candle individually. "It was easier to light a row of gas jets than a greater quantity of candles high in the air." Theatres also no longer needed to worry about wax dripping on the actors during a show. Gas lighting also had an effect on the actors. As the stage was brighter, they could now use less make-up and their motions did not have to be as exaggerated. Half-lit stages had become fully lit stages. Production companies were so impressed with

2108-721: A small pipe into the flame of a candle, will take fire, and burn at the end of the pipe as long as the bladder is gently pressed to feed the flame, and when taken from the candle after it is so lighted, it will continue burning till there is no more air left in the bladder to supply the flame." Lowther had basically discovered the principle behind gas lighting. Later in the 18th century William Murdoch (sometimes spelled "Murdock") stated: "the gas obtained by distillation from coal, peat, wood and other inflammable substances burnt with great brilliancy upon being set fire to … by conducting it through tubes, it might be employed as an economical substitute for lamps and candles." Murdoch's first invention

2232-488: A state of matter. He would go on to identify several types of gases, including carbon dioxide. Over one hundred years later in 1733, Sir James Lowther had some of his miners working on a water pit for his mine. While digging the pit they hit a pocket of gas. Lowther took a sample of the gas and took it home to do some experiments. He noted, "The said air being put into a bladder … and tied close, may be carried away, and kept some days, and being afterwards pressed gently through

2356-414: A strong shock wave giving it its characteristic high-pressure peak and high detonation velocity . The act of combustion consists of three relatively distinct but overlapping phases: Efficient process heating requires recovery of the largest possible part of a fuel's heat of combustion into the material being processed. There are many avenues of loss in the operation of a heating process. Typically,

2480-682: A variety of forms and with great brilliance at the front of his factory in Birmingham. In 1808 he constructed an apparatus, applicable for several uses, for Benjamin Cooke , a manufacturer of brass tubes, gilt toys, and other articles. In 1808, Murdoch presented to the Royal Society a paper entitled "Account of the Application of Gas from Coal to Economical Purposes" in which he described his successful application of coal gas to light

2604-451: A verse in his poem The Boat on Hales: In 1718, the poet Alexander Pope , a renowned dog lover, also criticized Hales's work. In conversation with his friend, Joseph Spence , Pope reportedly said of Hales: "He commits most of these barbarities with the thought of its being of use to man. But how do we know that we have a right to kill creatures that we are so little above as dogs, for our curiosity, or even for some use to us?". Pope, however

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2728-426: A very low probability. To initiate combustion, energy is required to force dioxygen into a spin-paired state, or singlet oxygen . This intermediate is extremely reactive. The energy is supplied as heat , and the reaction then produces additional heat, which allows it to continue. Combustion of hydrocarbons is thought to be initiated by hydrogen atom abstraction (not proton abstraction) from the fuel to oxygen, to give

2852-445: A vital role in stabilizing the flame in such combustion chambers . Generally, the chemical equation for stoichiometric combustion of a hydrocarbon in oxygen is: For example, the stoichiometric combustion of methane in oxygen is: If the stoichiometric combustion takes place using air as the oxygen source, the nitrogen present in the air ( Atmosphere of Earth ) can be added to the equation (although it does not react) to show

2976-460: Is acetaldehyde produced in the combustion of ethanol . An intermediate in the combustion of carbon and hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide , is of special importance because it is a poisonous gas , but also economically useful for the production of syngas . Solid and heavy liquid fuels also undergo a great number of pyrolysis reactions that give more easily oxidized, gaseous fuels. These reactions are endothermic and require constant energy input from

3100-454: Is stoichiometric concerning the fuel, where there is no remaining fuel, and ideally, no residual oxidant. Thermodynamically, the chemical equilibrium of combustion in air is overwhelmingly on the side of the products. However, complete combustion is almost impossible to achieve, since the chemical equilibrium is not necessarily reached, or may contain unburnt products such as carbon monoxide , hydrogen and even carbon ( soot or ash). Thus,

3224-400: Is 'low' (i.e., 'micro' in the sense of 'small' and not necessarily a millionth of Earth's normal gravity) such that the influence of buoyancy on physical processes may be considered small relative to other flow processes that would be present at normal gravity. In such an environment, the thermal and flow transport dynamics can behave quite differently than in normal gravity conditions (e.g.,

3348-419: Is 1 / (1 + 2 + 7.54) = 9.49% vol. The stoichiometric combustion reaction for C α H β O γ in air: The stoichiometric combustion reaction for C α H β O γ S δ : The stoichiometric combustion reaction for C α H β O γ N δ S ε : The stoichiometric combustion reaction for C α H β O γ F δ : Various other substances begin to appear in significant amounts in combustion products when

3472-463: Is converted to carbon monoxide , and some of the hydrogens remain unreacted. A complete set of equations for the combustion of a hydrocarbon in the air, therefore, requires an additional calculation for the distribution of oxygen between the carbon and hydrogen in the fuel. The amount of air required for complete combustion is known as the "theoretical air" or "stoichiometric air". The amount of air above this value actually needed for optimal combustion

3596-432: Is frequently used for camping , for which the high energy density of the hydrocarbon fuel , and the modular canisters on which camping lights are built, brings bright and long lasting light without complex equipment. In addition, some urban historical districts retain gas street lighting , and gas lighting is used indoors or outdoors to create or preserve a nostalgic effect . Prior to use of gaseous fuels for lighting,

3720-581: Is greatly preferred especially as carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas. When breathed, carbon monoxide takes the place of oxygen and combines with some of the hemoglobin in the blood, rendering it unable to transport oxygen. These oxides combine with water and oxygen in the atmosphere, creating nitric acid and sulfuric acids , which return to Earth's surface as acid deposition, or "acid rain." Acid deposition harms aquatic organisms and kills trees. Due to its formation of certain nutrients that are less available to plants such as calcium and phosphorus, it reduces

3844-532: Is harvested for diverse uses such as cooking , production of electricity or industrial or domestic heating. Combustion is also currently the only reaction used to power rockets . Combustion is also used to destroy ( incinerate ) waste, both nonhazardous and hazardous. Oxidants for combustion have high oxidation potential and include atmospheric or pure oxygen , chlorine , fluorine , chlorine trifluoride , nitrous oxide and nitric acid . For instance, hydrogen burns in chlorine to form hydrogen chloride with

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3968-428: Is known as the "excess air", and can vary from 5% for a natural gas boiler, to 40% for anthracite coal, to 300% for a gas turbine . Incomplete combustion will occur when there is not enough oxygen to allow the fuel to react completely to produce carbon dioxide and water. It also happens when the combustion is quenched by a heat sink, such as a solid surface or flame trap. As is the case with complete combustion, water

4092-482: Is often hot enough that incandescent light in the form of either glowing or a flame is produced. A simple example can be seen in the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen into water vapor , a reaction which is commonly used to fuel rocket engines . This reaction releases 242   kJ/mol of heat and reduces the enthalpy accordingly (at constant temperature and pressure): Uncatalyzed combustion in air requires relatively high temperatures. Complete combustion

4216-438: Is positively correlated with the risk of heart disease. People who survive severe carbon monoxide poisoning may suffer long-term health problems. Carbon monoxide from the air is absorbed in the lungs which then binds with hemoglobin in human's red blood cells. This reduces the capacity of red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body. Smoldering is the slow, low-temperature, flameless form of combustion, sustained by

4340-548: Is produced by incomplete combustion; however, carbon and carbon monoxide are produced instead of carbon dioxide. For most fuels, such as diesel oil, coal, or wood, pyrolysis occurs before combustion. In incomplete combustion, products of pyrolysis remain unburnt and contaminate the smoke with noxious particulate matter and gases. Partially oxidized compounds are also a concern; partial oxidation of ethanol can produce harmful acetaldehyde , and carbon can produce toxic carbon monoxide. The designs of combustion devices can improve

4464-417: Is the source of oxygen ( O 2 ). In the air, each mole of oxygen is mixed with approximately 3.71  mol of nitrogen. Nitrogen does not take part in combustion, but at high temperatures, some nitrogen will be converted to NO x (mostly NO , with much smaller amounts of NO 2 ). On the other hand, when there is insufficient oxygen to combust the fuel completely, some fuel carbon

4588-510: Is the vapor that burns, not the liquid. Therefore, a liquid will normally catch fire only above a certain temperature: its flash point . The flash point of liquid fuel is the lowest temperature at which it can form an ignitable mix with air. It is the minimum temperature at which there is enough evaporated fuel in the air to start combustion. Combustion of gaseous fuels may occur through one of four distinctive types of burning: diffusion flame , premixed flame , autoignitive reaction front , or as

4712-648: Is theoretically needed to ensure that all the fuel burns. For methane ( CH 4 ) combustion, for example, slightly more than two molecules of oxygen are required. The second principle of combustion management, however, is to not use too much oxygen. The correct amount of oxygen requires three types of measurement: first, active control of air and fuel flow; second, offgas oxygen measurement; and third, measurement of offgas combustibles. For each heating process, there exists an optimum condition of minimal offgas heat loss with acceptable levels of combustibles concentration. Minimizing excess oxygen pays an additional benefit: for

4836-504: The Gas Light and Coke Company . A "thermolampe" using gas distilled from wood was patented in 1799, while German inventor Friedrich Winzer ( Frederick Albert Winsor ) was the first person to patent coal-gas lighting in 1804. In 1801, Phillipe Lebon of Paris had also used gas lights to illuminate his house and gardens, and was considering how to light all of Paris. In 1820, Paris adopted gas street lighting. In 1804, Dr Henry delivered

4960-801: The Royal Academy of Sciences , Paris and was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences of Bologna . He received the Copley Medal in 1739 and also became a public figure as a result of his campaigns against the gin trade and his involvement in the Georgia Trust . He was made a Doctor of Divinity by Oxford University in 1733. In his later years he received frequent visits from Frederick, Prince of Wales and his wife, Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha , both of whom were interested in gardening and botany. He gave Princess Augusta advice on

5084-472: The Technical Institute and Peter and Paul Fortress . It took many years of development and testing before gas lighting for the stage was commercially available. Gas technology was then installed in just about every major theatre in the world. But gas lighting was short-lived because the electric light bulb soon followed. In the 19th century, gas stage lighting went from a crude experiment to

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5208-457: The efficiency of a burner during the combustion process. Also, the efficiency of an internal combustion engine can be measured in this way, and some U.S. states and local municipalities use combustion analysis to define and rate the efficiency of vehicles on the road today. Carbon monoxide is one of the products from incomplete combustion . The formation of carbon monoxide produces less heat than formation of carbon dioxide so complete combustion

5332-410: The flame temperature is above about 1600  K . When excess air is used, nitrogen may oxidize to NO and, to a much lesser extent, to NO 2 . CO forms by disproportionation of CO 2 , and H 2 and OH form by disproportionation of H 2 O . For example, when 1  mol of propane is burned with 28.6  mol of air (120% of the stoichiometric amount),

5456-604: The gas mantle or the limelight , with the gas primarily functioning to heat the mantle or the lime to incandescence . Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas lighting was prevalent for outdoor and indoor use in cities and suburbs where the infrastructure for distribution of gas was practical. At that time, the most common fuels for gas lighting were wood gas , coal gas and, in limited cases, water gas . Early gas lights were ignited manually by lamplighters , although many later designs are self-igniting. Gas lighting now

5580-489: The gas mantle was invented by the Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach . This eliminated the need for special illuminating gas (a synthetic mixture of hydrogen and hydrocarbon gases produced by destructive distillation of bituminous coal or peat ) to get bright shining flames. Acetylene was also used from about 1898 for gas lighting on a smaller scale. Illuminating gas was used for gas lighting, as it produces

5704-446: The heat-treatment of metals and for gas carburizing . The general reaction equation for incomplete combustion of one mole of a hydrocarbon in oxygen is: When z falls below roughly 50% of the stoichiometric value, CH 4 can become an important combustion product; when z falls below roughly 35% of the stoichiometric value, elemental carbon may become stable. The products of incomplete combustion can be calculated with

5828-488: The 19th century fell; these included footlights, border lights, groundrows, lengths, bunch lights, conical reflector floods, and limelight spots. These mechanisms sat directly on the stage, blinding the eyes of the audience. Gas lighting did have some disadvantages. "Several hundred theatres are said to have burned down in America and Europe between 1800 and the introduction of electricity in the late 1800s. The increased heat

5952-437: The 20th century, it enabled better and safer theatre productions, with no smell, relatively very little heat, and more freedom for designers. Combustion Combustion is often a complicated sequence of elementary radical reactions . Solid fuels , such as wood and coal , first undergo endothermic pyrolysis to produce gaseous fuels whose combustion then supplies the heat required to produce more of them. Combustion

6076-457: The London and Westminster Gas Light and Coke Company was established. Less than two years later, on 31 December 1813, Westminster Bridge was lit by gas. By 1816, Samuel Clegg obtained the patent for his horizontal rotative retort , his apparatus for purifying coal gas with cream of lime , and for his rotative gas meter and self-acting governor . Among the economic impacts of gas lighting

6200-727: The Nation'. From the Nobel Prize in Medicine acceptance speech given by Werner Forssmann in 1956: "The credit for carrying out the first catheterization of the heart of a living animal for a definite experimental purpose is due to an English parson, the Reverend Stephen Hales. This scientifically interested layman undertook in Tordington ( sic ) in 1710, 53 years after the death of William Harvey (1578–1657),

6324-531: The US illuminated by gas has been variously identified as that of David Melville (c. 1806), as described above, or of William Henry, a coppersmith , at 200 Lombard Street, Philadelphia , Pennsylvania, in 1816. In 1817, at the three stations of the Chartered Gas Company in London, 25 chaldrons (24 m) of coal were carbonized daily, producing 300,000 cubic feet (8,500 m) of gas. This supplied gas lamps equal to 75,000 Argand lamps each yielding

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6448-682: The United Kingdom, coal gas was used until the early 1970s. The history of the Russian gas industry began with retired Lieutenant Pyotr Sobolevsky (1782–1841), who improved Philippe le Bon 's design for a "thermolamp" and presented it to Emperor Alexander I in 1811; in January 1812, Sobolevsky was instructed to draw up a plan for gas street-lighting for St. Petersburg. The French invasion of Russia delayed implementation, but St. Petersburg's Governor General Mikhail Miloradovich , who had seen

6572-525: The United States and European Union enforce limits to vehicle nitrogen oxide emissions, which necessitate the use of special catalytic converters or treatment of the exhaust with urea (see Diesel exhaust fluid ). The incomplete (partial) combustion of a hydrocarbon with oxygen produces a gas mixture containing mainly CO 2 , CO , H 2 O , and H 2 . Such gas mixtures are commonly prepared for use as protective atmospheres for

6696-485: The United States, in either 1805 or 1806 in Newport, Rhode Island . In 1809, accordingly, the first application was made to Parliament to incorporate a company in order to accelerate the process, but the bill failed to pass. In 1810, however, the application was renewed by the same parties, and though some opposition was encountered and considerable expense incurred, the bill passed, but not without great alterations; and

6820-424: The aid of a material balance , together with the assumption that the combustion products reach equilibrium . For example, in the combustion of one mole of propane ( C 3 H 8 ) with four moles of O 2 , seven moles of combustion gas are formed, and z is 80% of the stoichiometric value. The three elemental balance equations are: These three equations are insufficient in themselves to calculate

6944-558: The air". In Vegetable Staticks Hales prefigured the cohesion theory of water movement in plants, although his ideas were not understood at the time, so he did not influence the debate on water transport in plants in the 19th century. He also speculated that plants might use light as a source of energy for growth (i.e. photosynthesis ), based on Isaac Newton 's suggestion that "gross bodies and light" might be interconvertible. In Vegetable Staticks Hales also described experiments that showed that "... air freely enters plants, not only with

7068-418: The application of heat. Organic materials undergoing bacterial composting can generate enough heat to reach the point of combustion. Combustion resulting in a turbulent flame is the most used for industrial applications (e.g. gas turbines , gasoline engines , etc.) because the turbulence helps the mixing process between the fuel and oxidizer . The term 'micro' gravity refers to a gravitational state that

7192-408: The combustion gas composition. However, at the equilibrium position, the water-gas shift reaction gives another equation: For example, at 1200  K the value of K eq is 0.728. Solving, the combustion gas consists of 42.4% H 2 O , 29.0% CO 2 , 14.7% H 2 , and 13.9% CO . Carbon becomes a stable phase at 1200  K and 1  atm pressure when z is less than 30% of

7316-457: The combustion products contain 3.3% O 2 . At 1400  K , the equilibrium combustion products contain 0.03% NO and 0.002% OH . At 1800  K , the combustion products contain 0.17% NO , 0.05% OH , 0.01% CO , and 0.004% H 2 . Diesel engines are run with an excess of oxygen to combust small particles that tend to form with only a stoichiometric amount of oxygen, necessarily producing nitrogen oxide emissions. Both

7440-520: The death of his wife, Hales became increasingly involved in philanthropic causes. In 1722 he became a corresponding member of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge , founded by Thomas Bray . In 1723 Bray became ill and appointed trustees, including Hales, to administer a bequest from Abel Tassin, Sieur d’Allone for 'The Conversion of Negroes Slaves in the West Indies'. Subsequently, Hales

7564-532: The development and widespread adoption of gas lighting. In 1417, Sir Henry Barton , Lord Mayor of London , ordained "Lanthornes with lights to bee hanged out on the Winter evening betwixt Hallowtide and Candlemassee ." Paris was first illuminated by an order issued in 1524, and, in the beginning of the 16th century, the inhabitants were ordered to keep lights burning in the windows of all houses that faced streets. In 1668, when some regulations were made for improving

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7688-613: The development of Kew Gardens , and in 1751 he was appointed Clerk of the Closet to the Princess Dowager , following the death of Prince Frederick, a post he held until his death. At the age of seventy Hales was chosen by the president and fellows of the Royal College of Physicians to preach the annual Crounian Sermon in the church of St Mary-le-Bow . He selected his favorite topic – "The Wisdom and Goodness of God in

7812-400: The dominant loss is sensible heat leaving with the offgas (i.e., the flue gas ). The temperature and quantity of offgas indicates its heat content ( enthalpy ), so keeping its quantity low minimizes heat loss. In a perfect furnace, the combustion air flow would be matched to the fuel flow to give each fuel molecule the exact amount of oxygen needed to cause complete combustion. However, in

7936-459: The early lighting fuels consisted of olive oil , beeswax , fish oil , whale oil , sesame oil , nut oil, or other similar substances, which were all liquid fuels. These were the most commonly used fuels until the late 18th century. Whale oil was especially widely used for lighting in European cities such as London through the early 19th century. Chinese records dating back 1,700 years indicate

8060-404: The extensive establishment of Messrs. Phillips and Lea. For this paper he was awarded Count Rumford 's gold medal. Murdoch's statements threw great light on the comparative advantage of gas and candles, and contained much useful information on the expenses of production and management. Although the history is uncertain, David Melville has been credited with the first house and street lighting in

8184-660: The failure of the South Sea Company and one, William, died of Gaol Fever in Newgate Prison . In 1732 King George II granted a Charter for the foundation of the colony of Georgia and Hales was one of the twenty one members of the Board of Trustees. The colony of Georgia was notable for its prohibition of slavery and rum. As a result of his involvement with the Board of Trustees of Georgia , Hales learnt of

8308-403: The first precise definition of the capacity of a heart. He bled a sheep to death and then led a gun-barrel from the neck vessels into the still-beating heart. Through this, he filled the hollow chambers with molten wax and then measured from the resultant cast the volume of the heartbeat and the minute-volume of the heart, which he calculated from the pulse-beat. Besides this, Stephen Hales was also

8432-580: The first stage 'switchboard'. By the 1850s, gas lighting in theatres had spread practically all over the United States and Europe. Some of the largest installations of gas lighting were in large auditoriums, like the Théâtre du Chatelet , built in 1862. In 1875, the new Paris Opera was constructed. "Its lighting system contained more than twenty-eight miles [45 km] of gas piping, and its gas table had no fewer than eighty-eight stopcocks, which controlled nine hundred and sixty gas jets." The theatre that used

8556-495: The formation of Man". Hales died in his 84th year at Teddington on 4 January 1761 after a short illness. At his own request he was buried under the tower of the church where he had worked for so many years. A monument to Hales was raised by Princess Augusta in the south transept of Westminster Abbey after his death. Hales is best known for his Statical Essays . The first volume, Vegetable Staticks (1727), contains an account of experiments in plant physiology and chemistry; it

8680-467: The gas lighting of Vienna, Paris and other European cities, initiated experimental work on gas lighting for the capital, using British apparatus for obtaining gas from pit coal, and by the autumn of 1819, Russia's first gas street light was lit on one of the streets on Aptekarsky Island . In February 1835, the Company for Gas Lighting St. Petersburg was founded; towards the end of that year, a factory for

8804-486: The heat evolved when oxygen directly attacks the surface of a condensed-phase fuel. It is a typically incomplete combustion reaction. Solid materials that can sustain a smoldering reaction include coal, cellulose , wood , cotton , tobacco , peat , duff , humus , synthetic foams, charring polymers (including polyurethane foam ) and dust . Common examples of smoldering phenomena are the initiation of residential fires on upholstered furniture by weak heat sources (e.g.,

8928-494: The intensity of the light from each source. In 1806 The Philips and Lee factory and a portion of Chapel Street in Salford, Lancashire were lit by gas, thought to be the first use of gas street lighting in the world. Josiah Pemberton , an inventor, had for some time been experimenting on the nature of gas. A resident of Birmingham, his attention may have been roused by the exhibition at Soho. About 1806, he exhibited gas lights in

9052-402: The liberation of heat and light characteristic of combustion. Although usually not catalyzed, combustion can be catalyzed by platinum or vanadium , as in the contact process . In complete combustion, the reactant burns in oxygen and produces a limited number of products. When a hydrocarbon burns in oxygen, the reaction will primarily yield carbon dioxide and water. When elements are burned,

9176-527: The light of six candles. At the City Gas Works, in Dorset Street, Blackfriars , three chaldrons of coal were carbonized each day, providing the gas equivalent of 9,000 Argand lamps. So 28 chaldrons of coal were carbonized daily, and 84,000 lights supplied by those two companies only. At this period the principal difficulty in gas manufacture was purification. Mr. D. Wilson, of Dublin, patented

9300-473: The loss of water from the leaves of plants. He estimated the surface area of the leaves of the plant and the length and surface area of the roots . This allowed Hales to compare the calculated influx of water into the plant with the amount of water leaving the plant by transpiration through the leaves. He also measured 'the force of the sap' or root pressure . Hales commented that "plants very probably draw through their leaves some part of their nourishment from

9424-509: The lower decks of Royal Navy vessels to combat dry rot in the hulls. Hales' ventilators were also used in preserving foods and drying grain. Hales also experimented with ways of distilling fresh water from sea water; preserving water and meat on sea-voyages; measuring depths at sea; measuring high temperatures; and wrote on a range of subjects including earthquakes ; methods of preventing the spread of fires; and comparative mortality rates in relationship to rural and urban parishes. After

9548-420: The maximum degree of oxidation, and it can be temperature-dependent. For example, sulfur trioxide is not produced quantitatively by the combustion of sulfur. NO x species appear in significant amounts above about 2,800 °F (1,540 °C), and more is produced at higher temperatures. The amount of NO x is also a function of oxygen excess. In most industrial applications and in fires , air

9672-537: The most effective. He first lit his own house in Redruth , Cornwall in 1792. In 1798, he used gas to light the main building of the Soho Foundry and in 1802 lit the outside in a public display of gas lighting, the lights astonishing the local population. One of the employees at the Soho Foundry, Samuel Clegg , saw the potential of this new form of lighting. Clegg left his job to set up his own gas lighting business,

9796-611: The most gas lighting was Astley's Equestrian Amphitheatre in London. According to the Illustrated London News , "Everywhere white and gold meets the eye, and about 200,000 gas jets add to the glittering effect of the auditorium … such a blaze of light and splendour has scarcely ever been witnessed, even in dreams." Theatres switched to gas lighting because it was more economical than using candles and also required less labour to operate. With gas lighting, theatres would no longer need to have people tending to candles during

9920-695: The most popular way of lighting theatrical stages. In 1804, Frederick Albert Winsor first demonstrated the way to use gas to light the stage in London at the Lyceum Theatre . Although the demonstration and all the lead research were being done in London, "in 1816 at the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia was the earliest gas lit theatre in world". In 1817 the Lyceum, Drury Lane , and Covent Garden theatres were all lit by gas. Gas

10044-519: The movement to promote the Gin Act 1736 . He wrote a number of anonymous tracts against the consumption of gin and distilled spirits , most notably 'A Friendly Admonition to the Drinker of Brandy and other Distilled Spirituous Liquors'. and also lobbied Parliament. Hales was not opposed to all alcoholic beverages but felt strongly that spirits, and gin in particular, were as he termed it 'The Bane of

10168-399: The new technology that one said, "This light is perfect for the stage. One can obtain gradation of brightness that is really magical." The best result was the improved respect from the audience. There was no more shouting or riots. The light pushed the actors more up stage behind the proscenium, helping the audience concentrate more on the action that was taking place on stage rather than what

10292-549: The new technology. Murdoch was the first to exploit the flammability of gas for the practical application of lighting. He worked for Matthew Boulton and James Watt at their Soho Foundry steam engine works in Birmingham , England. In the early 1790s, while overseeing the use of his company's steam engines in tin mining in Cornwall, Murdoch began experimenting with various types of gas, finally settling on coal gas as

10416-433: The ongoing combustion reactions. A lack of oxygen or other improperly designed conditions result in these noxious and carcinogenic pyrolysis products being emitted as thick, black smoke. Stephen Hales Stephen Hales (17 September 1677 – 4 January 1761 ) was an English clergyman who made major contributions to a range of scientific fields including botany , pneumatic chemistry and physiology . He

10540-496: The penalty of one shilling as a fine for failing to do so. Accumulating and escaping gases were known originally among coal miners for their adverse effects rather than their useful characteristics. Coal miners described two types of gases, one called the choke damp and the other fire damp . In 1667, a paper detailing the effects of these gases was entitled, "A Description of a Well and Earth in Lancashire taking Fire, by

10664-498: The pneumatic trough were later used by William Brownrigg , Henry Cavendish and Joseph Priestley in their research. Hales began his work on animal physiology with William Stuckeley while in Cambridge, although much of it was published only after Vegetable Staticks appeared. Hales and Stuckeley performed a wide range of studies including making casts of the trachea and bronchial trees of dogs using molten lead and measuring

10788-404: The principal fund of nourishment by the roots, but also thro' the surface of their trunks and leaves". While Hales' work on the chemistry of air appears primitive by modern standards, its importance was acknowledged by Antoine Lavoisier , the discoverer of oxygen . Hales' invention of the pneumatic trough to collect gases over water is also considered a major technical advance. Modified forms of

10912-434: The principal properties of coal gas to different members of the Royal Society . He showed that the gas retained its flammability after storage for some time. The demonstration did not result in identification of utility. Minister and experimentalist John Clayton referred to coal gas as the "spirit" of coal. He discovered its flammability by an accident. The "spirit" he isolated from coal caught fire by coming in contact with

11036-673: The principal streets in the centre of the city, as well as nearby houses, had switched to gas lighting by the end of 1817. In America, Seth Bemis lit his factory with gas illumination from 1812 to 1813. The use of gas lights in Rembrandt Peale 's Museum in Baltimore in 1816 was a great success. Baltimore was the first American city with gas street lights; Peale's Gas Light Company of Baltimore on 7 February 1817 lit its first street lamp at Market and Lemon Streets (currently Baltimore and Holliday Streets). The first private residence in

11160-478: The problems resulting from overcrowding of ships and this spurred him to invent a ship ventilator and undertake experiments to distil fresh water from sea water and to use salt to preserve meat on board ship. Hales was one of the co-founders of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (later the Royal Society of Arts ) conceived by William Shipley . Hales was also active in

11284-576: The produced smoke is usually toxic and contains unburned or partially oxidized products. Any combustion at high temperatures in atmospheric air , which is 78 percent nitrogen , will also create small amounts of several nitrogen oxides , commonly referred to as NOx , since the combustion of nitrogen is thermodynamically favored at high, but not low temperatures. Since burning is rarely clean, fuel gas cleaning or catalytic converters may be required by law. Fires occur naturally, ignited by lightning strikes or by volcanic products. Combustion ( fire )

11408-683: The production of lighting gas was constructed near the Obvodny Canal , using pit coal brought in by ship from Cardiff ; and 204 gas lamps were ceremonially lit in St. Petersburg on 27 September 1839. Over the next 10 years, their numbers almost quadrupled, to reach 800. By the middle of the 19th century, the central streets and buildings of the capital were illuminated: the Palace Square , Bolshaya and Malaya Morskaya streets, Nevsky and Tsarskoselsky Avenues, Passage Arcade, Noblemen's Assembly,

11532-463: The productivity of the ecosystem and farms. An additional problem associated with nitrogen oxides is that they, along with hydrocarbon pollutants, contribute to the formation of ground level ozone , a major component of smog. Breathing carbon monoxide causes headache, dizziness, vomiting, and nausea. If carbon monoxide levels are high enough, humans become unconscious or die. Exposure to moderate and high levels of carbon monoxide over long periods

11656-425: The products are primarily the most common oxides. Carbon will yield carbon dioxide , sulfur will yield sulfur dioxide , and iron will yield iron(III) oxide . Nitrogen is not considered to be a combustible substance when oxygen is the oxidant . Still, small amounts of various nitrogen oxides (commonly designated NO x species) form when the air is the oxidative. Combustion is not necessarily favorable to

11780-644: The quality of combustion, such as burners and internal combustion engines . Further improvements are achievable by catalytic after-burning devices (such as catalytic converters ) or by the simple partial return of the exhaust gases into the combustion process. Such devices are required by environmental legislation for cars in most countries. They may be necessary to enable large combustion devices, such as thermal power stations , to reach legal emission standards . The degree of combustion can be measured and analyzed with test equipment. HVAC contractors, firefighters and engineers use combustion analyzers to test

11904-498: The rapid adoption of electric lighting. By 1881, the Savoy Theatre in London was using incandescent lighting. While electric lighting was introduced to theatre stages, the gas mantle was developed in 1885 for gas-lit theatres. "This was a beehive-shaped mesh of knitted thread impregnated with lime that, in miniature, converted the naked gas flame into in effect, a lime-light ." Electric lighting slowly took over in theatres. In

12028-422: The real world, combustion does not proceed in a perfect manner. Unburned fuel (usually CO and H 2 ) discharged from the system represents a heating value loss (as well as a safety hazard). Since combustibles are undesirable in the offgas, while the presence of unreacted oxygen there presents minimal safety and environmental concerns, the first principle of combustion management is to provide more oxygen than

12152-499: The stoichiometric composition of the fuel in air and the composition of the resultant flue gas. Treating all non-oxygen components in air as nitrogen gives a 'nitrogen' to oxygen ratio of 3.77, i.e. (100% − O 2 %) / O 2 % where O 2 % is 20.95% vol: where z = x + y 4 {\displaystyle z=x+{y \over 4}} . For example, the stoichiometric combustion of methane in air is: The stoichiometric composition of methane in air

12276-414: The stoichiometric value, at which point the combustion products contain more than 98% H 2 and CO and about 0.5% CH 4 . Substances or materials which undergo combustion are called fuels . The most common examples are natural gas, propane, kerosene , diesel , petrol, charcoal, coal, wood, etc. Combustion of a liquid fuel in an oxidizing atmosphere actually happens in the gas phase. It

12400-500: The streets of London, the residents were reminded to hang out their lanterns at the usual time, and, in 1690, an order was issued to hang out a light, or lamp, every night at nightfall, from Michaelmas to Christmas. By an Act of the Common Council in 1716, all housekeepers, whose houses faced any street, lane, or passage, were required to hang out, every dark night, one or more lights, to burn from six to eleven o'clock, under

12524-404: The thermal advantage from preheating the combustion air, or enriching it in oxygen. Combustion in oxygen is a chain reaction in which many distinct radical intermediates participate. The high energy required for initiation is explained by the unusual structure of the dioxygen molecule. The lowest-energy configuration of the dioxygen molecule is a stable, relatively unreactive diradical in

12648-543: The use of natural gas in homes for lighting and heating. The natural gas was transported by means of bamboo pipes to homes. The ancient Chinese of the Spring and Autumn period made the first practical use of natural gas for lighting purposes around 500 B.C. in which they used bamboo pipelines to transport both brine and natural gas for many miles, such as the ones in Zigong salt mines. Public illumination preceded by centuries

12772-606: The ventricle of the heart and estimated how much blood was pumped by the heart; correctly described the roles of the mitral valve and aortic valve during systole and diastole ; explained the pulsations of arteries in terms of their elasticity and attributed the resistance to blood flow to friction due to the passage of blood through small blood vessels. Hales also described a diverse range of work in Haemastaticks including his attempts to find substances that could be used to dissolve bladder stones or calculi . This aim

12896-563: The water lost due to breathing. Most famously, Hales made measurements of blood pressure in several animal species by inserting fine tubes into arteries and measuring the height to which the column of blood rose. Hales also described the effects of hemorrhage and hemorrhagic shock by progressive exsanguination of animals and accompanying measurement of blood pressure. In a horse he observed that as death approached "the Mare fell into cold and clammy sweats". In addition, Hales took wax casts of

13020-548: The whole." Hales's results garnered attention decades later as the unique chemical properties of various gases became understood through the work of Joseph Black , Henry Cavendish , Alessandro Volta , and others. A 1733 publication by Sir James Lowther in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society detailed some properties of coal gas, including its flammability. Lowther demonstrated

13144-519: Was a lantern with a gas-filled bladder attached to a jet. He would use this to walk home at night. After seeing how well this worked he decided to light his home with gas. In 1797, Murdoch installed gas lighting in his new home as well as the workshop in which he worked. “This work was of a large scale, and he next experimented to find better ways of producing, purifying, and burning the gas.” The foundation had been laid for companies to start producing gas and other inventors to start playing with ways of using

13268-414: Was also a close friend of Hales and considered him the model of the man who loves his God. In 1718 Hales was elected a fellow of the Royal Society and in the same year became rector of Porlock , Somerset , a post he held alongside the curacy of Teddington. In 1720 he married Mary Newce, but she died the following year, probably in childbirth; there were no children and he never remarried. In 1723 he

13392-483: Was also appointed a trustee for Bray's legacy for establishing parochial libraries in the American colonies. These charities became incorporated into a scheme led by James Oglethorpe to establish a charitable colony for the poor, 'honest industrious debtors' and persecuted ( Protestant ) foreigners. Hales may well have felt a personal commitment to this scheme since his brothers had been imprisoned for debt following

13516-510: Was an ordinand studying divinity, Hales would have received his degree in the Classics , mathematics , natural sciences and philosophy while in Cambridge. Hales was admitted as a Fellow of Corpus Christi in 1703, the same year as he obtained the degree of Master of Arts , and was ordained as Deacon at Bugden, Cambridgeshire . He continued his theological and other studies in Cambridge, where he became friends with William Stukeley who

13640-412: Was brought into the building by "miles of rubber tubing from outlets in the floor called 'water joints'" which "carried the gas to border-lights and wing lights". But before it was distributed, the gas came through a central distribution point called a "gas table", which varied the brightness by regulating the gas supply, and the gas table, which allowed control of separate parts of the stage. Thus it became

13764-515: Was due to the Preston Gaslight Company run by revolutionary Joseph Dunn , who found the most improved way of brighter gas lighting. The parish church there was the first religious building to be lit by gas lighting. In Bristol , a Gas Light Company was founded on 15 December 1815. Under the supervision of the engineer, John Brelliat, extensive works were conducted in 1816-17 to build a gasholder, mains and street lights. Many of

13888-530: Was established, with Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet as general manager. The 1839 invention, the Bude-Light , provided a brighter and more economical lamp. Oil-gas appeared in the field as a rival of coal gas. In 1815, John Taylor patented an apparatus for the decomposition of "oil" and other animal substances. Public attention was attracted to "oil-gas" by the display of the patent apparatus at Apothecary's Hall , by Taylor & Martineau . In 1891

14012-424: Was going on in the house. Management had more authority on what went on during the show because they could see. Gaslight was the leading cause of behaviour change in theatres. They were no longer places for mingling and orange selling, but places of respected entertainment. There were six types of burners, but four burners were really experimented with: Several different instruments were used for stage lighting in

14136-481: Was installed as rector of Farringdon, Hampshire (which he held alongside Teddington by employing a curate in Farringdon). Hales spent his summers there and became a friend of Gilbert White , the naturalist , whose family lived nearby. Hales's fame as a scientist grew from 1718 onwards, and by the mid part of the 18th century he had achieved an international reputation. He was one of the eight Foreign Members of

14260-491: Was much longer work hours in factories. This was particularly important in Great Britain during the winter months when nights are significantly longer. Factories could even work continuously over 24 hours, resulting in increased production. Following successful commercialization, gas lighting spread to other countries. In England, the first place outside London to have gas lighting was Preston, Lancashire , in 1816; this

14384-433: Was objectionable, and the border lights and wing lights had to be lighted by a long stick with a flaming wad of cotton at the end. For many years, an attendant or gas boy moved along the long row of jets, lighting them individually while gas was escaping from the whole row. Both actors and audiences complained of the escaping gas, and explosions sometimes resulted from its accumulation." These problems with gas lighting led to

14508-547: Was one of twelve or possibly thirteen children. Thomas Hales (died 1692) predeceased his father, Sir Robert Hales ; therefore Sir Robert's grandson, Sir Thomas Hales, 2nd Baronet (Stephen Hales' brother) succeeded to the baronetcy in December 1693. Hales was educated in Kensington and then at Orpington before attending Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (or St Benedict's as it was then known) in 1696. Although he

14632-419: Was studying medicine. He attended chemistry lectures by Giovanni Francisco Vigani while at Cambridge. His interest in biology , botany and physiology is presumed to date from that time. In 1709 he was ordained Priest at Fulham and on 10 August 1709 he was appointed Perpetual curate of the parish of Teddington, Middlesex and left Cambridge, although he retained his Fellowship until 1718. He became

14756-456: Was the first controlled chemical reaction discovered by humans, in the form of campfires and bonfires , and continues to be the main method to produce energy for humanity. Usually, the fuel is carbon , hydrocarbons , or more complicated mixtures such as wood that contain partially oxidized hydrocarbons. The thermal energy produced from the combustion of either fossil fuels such as coal or oil , or from renewable fuels such as firewood ,

14880-555: Was the first person to measure blood pressure . He also invented several devices, including a ventilator , a pneumatic trough and a surgical forceps for the removal of bladder stones . In addition to these achievements, he was a philanthropist and wrote a popular tract on alcoholic intemperance . Stephen Hales was born in Bekesbourne , Kent , England . He was the sixth son of Thomas Hales, heir to Baronetcy of Beakesbourne and Brymore , and his wife, Mary (née Wood), and

15004-585: Was thought to be a cause of ill-health and death in the 18th century. Death and disease were common in overcrowded ships and prisons. Hales was one of several people in the early 18th century (other notable inventors being John Theophilus Desaguliers , Mårten Triewald and Samuel Sutton ) who developed forms of ventilators to improve air quality. Hales' ventilators were large bellows , usually worked by hand, although larger versions were powered by windmills . They were widely installed in ships, prisons and mines and were successful in reducing disease, and aerating

15128-594: Was to be found all over Britain and about a thousand gas works had sprung up to meet the demand for the new fuel. The brighter lighting which gas provided allowed people to read more easily and for longer. This helped to stimulate literacy and learning, speeding up the second Industrial Revolution . In 1824 the English Association for Gas Lighting on the Continent , a sizeable business producing gas for several cities in mainland, Europe, including Berlin,

15252-481: Was translated into French by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1735 and into Italian by Maria Angela Ardinghelli in Naples in 1750-1752. The second volume, Haemastaticks (1733), describes experiments on animal physiology including the measurement of the "force of the blood", i.e. blood pressure . Translated and annotated by Ardinghelli in 1756. In Vegetable Staticks , Hales studied transpiration –

15376-439: Was unsuccessful but as part of this work he developed a double lumen bladder catheter and devised special forceps to enable the removal of urinary stones. Hales's work on the growth pattern of long bones , demonstrating epiphyseal growth; his demonstration of spinal reflexes in the frog and his suggestion that electricity played a role in allowing nerves to control muscle function are also noteworthy. Bad air

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