Talk:Carbide lamp

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Hi; I added a section on recommended readings, I can't help it, I'm a librarian. I hope you will leave the link to Eurekamagazine.net on the Carbide Lamp page, it is the only currently published magazine on the history of mine lighting and mining tools, and access is free! Please note that this is not intended as a promotional or commercial post, I have no direct connection to Eureka!, but right now it is the only place with information on Thorpe's book. JAVanfleet 19:50, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Deleted chunk

I deleted this section. Reason is, the chemistry is adequately discussed under acetylene and calcium carbide, using modern versus archaic terminology. Also, this is not the focus of the article; the focus is the lamp. Lastly, the earlier part seems to contradict the ==History== section. --Rifleman 82 (talk) 01:50, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re-Invention

Acetylene gas lighting was successfully developed and introduced by many manufacturers for various uses from circa 1894. Fuller in America is credited with its introduction in 1895. Often described as artificial daylight, Willson and Moorehead re-discovered the properties of acetylene gas in 1892. They demonstrated that by dripping water onto carbide of calcium, acetylene gas was produced which, when ignited under about 5lbs of pressure, gave a brilliant white light. Carbide of calcium is manufactured from coke and lime in an electric furnace with an achievable heat of approximately 4000 degrees Fahrenheit. The chemical action converts the coke and lime into carbide calcium and carbon monoxide gas. The chemical action which takes place when the water is brought into contact with the carbide of calcium was discovered by Friedrich Wohler in 1862:^[1]

CaC₂ + 2 H₂O → Ca(OH)₂ + C₂H₂

Acetylene gas as properly generated will produce 95.6% of pure gas per volume. The remainder is made up of sulphuretted hydrogen, ammonia, hydrocarbons and phosphoresced hydrogen (Ref 5). This latter impurity is perhaps the most dangerous, as it forms a highly explosive compound when brought into contact with copper (Ref 14). Owners of bicycle lamps should not fear as the hydrogen gas generated in a bicycle lamp is so minuscule that it will have no effect. On the other hand, it was a problem with very large domestic acetylene gas generators where substantial amounts of gas were produced. It also helped if the generator was kept cool, which in the most part was true when using your lamp on an evening ride. Some means of filtering the impurities was certainly needed as if they were allowed to pass along with the gas they would very quickly block the small burner tip. In consequence most manufacturers after 1900 used a horse-hair filter sandwiched behind a plate in the upper part of the generator. Modern users often remove this, not realizing the damaging effect at the burner. If the filter needs replacing then cotton wool is a good alternative.