Lighting with gas lamps ^[1] It is the production of artificial light from the combustion of gaseous fuels, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas.

The light is produced either directly by the flame, often by using a special mixture of luminescent gas to increase the brightness of the light, or indirectly with other components such as a gas mantle or calcium light, with the gas primarily serving as a fuel source.

Before electricity became widespread and economical enough to be available for general use, gas was the most popular method of outdoor and indoor lighting in cities and suburbs. Early gas lamps were manually ignited, but many later designs were self-igniting.

Gas lighting is now generally used for camping, as the high energy density of hydrocarbon fuels, combined with the modular nature of cans (particularly sturdy metal containers), allows for bright, long-lasting light to be produced inexpensively and without complicated equipment. In addition, some urban historic districts continue to have gas-powered street lighting, and gas lighting is used indoors or outdoors to evoke nostalgic memories.

background[عدل]

Early lighting fuels consisted of olive oil, beeswax, fish oil, whale oil, sesame oil, walnut oil, and similar materials. These were the most widely used fuels until the late eighteenth century. Chinese records dating back 1,700 years refer to the use of natural gas in the home to generate and transmit light and heat through bamboo tubes into homes. In the Spring and Autumn period, the ancient Chinese made practical use of natural gas for the first time for lighting around 500 BC.^[2] They used bamboo pipelines to transport brine and natural gas for miles. ^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

Public lighting predated the discovery and adoption of the gas lamp by centuries. In 1417 Sir Henry Barton, the Lord Mayor of London, appointed “lanterns with lights to be hung on the winter evenings between Hallow Tide and Chandelmass”. Paris was first lit by an order in 1524, and at the beginning of the 16th century, residents were ordered to keep lights on in the windows of all houses facing the streets. In 1668, when some regulations were passed for the improvement of the streets of London, the inhabitants were reminded to hang up their lanterns at the usual time, and in 1690 an order was made to hang a light or lamp every night at nightfall, from Michaelmas to Christmas. By an Act of the Common Council in the year 1716, all the tenants, whose houses faced any street, road, or lane, were to hang every dark night one or more lamps, to keep burning from six o’clock to eleven o’clock, and impose a penalty One shilling as a fine for those who do not comply with this.

In coal mining, accretive and diffusing gases were originally known for their harmful effects rather than their beneficial properties. Coal miners described two types of gases, one called asphyxiation moisture and the other called fire moisture. In 1667 a paper detailing these gases was titled, ‘Description of a well and land in Lancashire being set on fire, by means of a candle approaching them. It was announced by the Honorable Thomas Shirley, eyewitness.”

Stephen Hales was the first person to obtain a combustible liquid from actual coal distillation. His experiments with this purpose can be found in the first volume of his “Vegetable Statistics”, published in 1726. From the distillation of “158 grains [10.2 غرام] From Newcastle coal, he is reported to have obtained 180 cubic inches [2.9 لتر] of air, which weighed 51 grains [3.3 غرام]That is, nearly a third of all. These findings appear to have passed without attention for several years.

In the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1733, some of the properties of coal gas were detailed in a paper titled “A Description of the Condition of Humid Air in Mr. James Lowther’s Coal Pit, Flooded in Twenty Yards of Seawater”. This paper contains some amazing facts regarding the flammability and other properties of coal gas.

The principal properties of coal gas were shown to various members of the Royal Society, and showed that after holding the gas for some time, it still retained its flammability. Scientists of that time did not see any useful purpose for this.

John Clayton, in an extract from a letter in the Philosophical Transactions of 1735, describes the gas as the “soul” of coal and says that he discovered its flammability by accident. As it happened that this “spirit” came into contact with the fire, which led to its ignition by touching a candle while escaping from a break in one of the distillation vessels. By keeping the gas in his bladders, he amused the eyes of his friends, by demonstrating its flammability.

early technology[عدل]

It took many years of development and testing before gas lighting was commercially available. Gas technology was then installed in nearly every major theater in the world. But gas lighting was short-lived because the electric light soon followed.

It took nearly 200 years for the gas to become available for commercial use. The Flemish alchemist, Jan Baptista van Helmont, was the first person to formally classify a gas as a state of matter. He said he continues to identify several types of gases, including carbon dioxide. Over a hundred years later in 1733, Sir James Lowther had some miners working on a waterhole for his mine. While drilling the hole they hit a pocket of gas. Luther takes a sample of the gas home for some experiments. He remarked that “the said air which is put into a calabash…and closed tightly, may be carried away, kept for several days, and after being gently pressed through a small tube into the flame of a candle, will kindle a fire and burn at the end of the tube as long as the calabash is pressed gently to kindle the flame.” and when it is taken from the candle after it has lit much, it will continue to burn until there is no more air left in the calabash to supply the flame.’ Luther had originally discovered the principle behind gas lighting.^[8]

Later in the eighteenth century, William Murdoch stated: “The gas obtained by distillation from coal, peat, wood and other combustible materials burnt with great brilliance when set on fire in … by conducting it through pipes,^[9] May be used as an economical alternative to lamps and candles. Murdoch’s first invention was a lantern with a gasbag attached to a tongue of flame. He used this to walk home at night. After seeing how well he succeeded, he decided to light his house with gas. In 1797, Murdoch installed gas lighting in his new home as well as in the workshop where he worked. “This work was extensive, and he then experimented to find better ways to produce, purify and burn the gas.”^[10] It laid the groundwork for companies to start producing gas and for other inventors to start tinkering with ways to use the new technology.

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the reviewer[عدل]

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