Propane for Lamps?

[mortier]

I saw a posting on another forum about using propane for lamps. The guy said he got a bright light on his 1913 Metz lamps, and posted a photo. I looked it up, and propane burns at a lower temperature than acetylene (2800f vs 3100f). Propane tanks are easier to find (any hardware store). Any comments?

Phil

[TXGOAT2]

Propane would not be as bright and white as acetylene. It probably would not burn properly without modifying burners, if then. Propane lanterns and natural gas yard lights can give a good bright light, but they use a "mantle" with rare earth catalysts in order to do it. That technology is not used on vehicle lighting because the mantles are too fragile and they do not lend themselves to use with focused reflectors. I'd stay with acetylene for equipment designed for it.

[Luxford]

Definitely don't try to use propane for your lights.
A guy near me years ago tried to do this and destroyed his gas lights.
The chimneys melted !!
Brass melts at 1710 F and propane burns at 2800 F, Acetylene by itself is way below that,
it needs to be mixed with oxygen to be able to reach 3100 F
The high temp could also crack the mirrors.
I would think the acetylene flame would be around the same temperature as a candle only white (why it was preferred.)

[Kaiser]

The colour of the flame is directly related to the temperature of the flame, the hotter the flame the brighter or "whiter" your lights. Acetylene gives a very bright flame at a low flow and gas pressure. The generated heat can find its way out through the chimney.
To get a comparable amount of light from your lamps with propane, you'll have to crank up the gas a lot and the heat in the lamp can have a hard time finding a way out which may overheat the structure of the lamp and mirror and can damage them.
So, maybe not a good idea..

[TXGOAT2]

Propane mixed with air to obtain complete combustion burns with a blue flame and is nearly useless for illumination. Propane is high in BTU content, and burning it releases a lot of heat. You could probably flood a burner with propane to get a yellow flame, but that would likely cause lenses and reflectors to soot up in a short time, and it would give a very poor light at best.

Natural gas, butane, gasoline, coal gas, and propane can be made to burn brightly through the use of a "mantle", which is a fragile, sock-like device containing rare earth catalysts that surrounds the flame. These were once widely used for street lighting and home lighting, and Coleman offers a line of gasoline and propane fueled camp lanterns that used mantles, or they did until recently. These give a good bright light and emit a lot of heat.

Mantles are too fragile to use on vehicles.

Acetylene mixed with oxygen for welding purposes burns blue.