Artificial Light: Its Influence upon Civilization Part 5

The spectrum has been dwelt upon at some length because it is of great importance in light-production and probably will figure strongly in future developments. Although in lighting little use has been made of the injection of chemical salts into ordinary flames, it appears certain that such developments would have risen if electric illuminants had not entered the field. However, the principle has been applied with great success in arc-lamps. In the first arc-lamps plain carbon electrodes were used, but in some of the latest carbon-arcs, electrodes of carbon impregnated with various salts are employed. For example, calcium fluoride gives a brilliant yellow light when used in the carbons of the "flame" arc. These are described in detail later.

Following this principle of light-production the vacuum tubes were developed. Crookes studied the light from various gases by enclosing them in a tube which was pumped out until a low vacuum was produced. On connecting a high voltage to electrodes in each end, an electrical discharge pa.s.sed through the residual gas making it luminous. The different gases show their characteristic spectra and their desirability as light-producers is at once evident.

However, the most general principle of light-production at the present time is the radiation of bodies by virtue of their temperature. If a piece of wire be heated by electricity, it will become very hot before it becomes luminous. At this temperature it is emitting only invisible infra-red energy and has an efficiency of zero as a producer of light.

As it becomes hotter it begins to appear red, but as its temperature is raised it appears orange, until if it could be heated to the temperature of the sun, about 10,000F., it would appear white. All this time its luminous efficiency is increasing, because it is radiating not only an increasing percentage of visible radiant energy but an increasing amount of the most effective luminous energy. But even when it appears white, a large amount of the energy which it radiates is invisible infra-red and ultra-violet, which are ineffective in producing light, so at best the substance at this high temperature is inefficient as a light-producer.

In this branch of the science of light-production substances are sought not only for their high melting-point, but for their ability to radiate selectively as much visible energy as possible and of the most luminous character. However, at best the present method of utilizing the temperature radiation of hot bodies has limitations.

The luminous efficiencies of light-sources to-day are still very low, but great advances have been made in the past half-century. There must be some radical departures if the efficiency of light-production is to reach a much higher figure. A good deal has been said of the firefly and of phosph.o.r.escence. These light-sources appear to emit only visible energy and, therefore, are efficient as radiators of luminous radiant energy. But much remains to be unearthed concerning them before they will be generally applicable to lighting. If ultra-violet radiation is allowed to impinge upon a phosph.o.r.escent material, it will glow with a considerable brightness but will be cool to the touch. A substance of the same brightness by virtue of its temperature would be hot; hence phosph.o.r.escence is said to be "cold" light.

An acquaintance with certain terms is necessary if the reader is to understand certain parts of the text. The early candle gradually became a standard, and uniform candles are still satisfactory standards where high accuracy is not required. Their luminous intensity and illuminating value became units just as the foot was arbitrarily adopted as a unit of length. The intensity of other light-sources was represented in terms of the number of candles or fraction of a candle which gave the same amount of light. But the luminous intensity of the candle was taken only in the horizontal direction. In the same manner the luminous intensities of light-sources until a short time ago were expressed in candles as measured in a certain direction. Incandescent lamps were rated in terms of mean horizontal candles, which would be satisfactory if the luminous intensity were the same in all directions, but it is not. Therefore, the candle-power in one direction does not give a measure of the total light-output.

If a source of light has a luminous intensity of one candle in all directions, the illumination at a distance of one foot in any direction is said to be a foot-candle. This is the unit of illumination intensity.

A lumen is the quant.i.ty of light which falls on one square foot if the intensity of illumination is one foot-candle. It is seen that the area of a sphere with a radius of one foot is 4 pi or 12.57 square feet; therefore, a light-source having a luminous intensity of one candle in all directions emits 12.57 lumens. This is the satisfactory unit, for it measures total quant.i.ty of light, and luminous efficiencies may be expressed in terms of lumens per watt, lumens per cubic foot of gas per hour, etc.

Of course, the efficiencies of light-sources are usually of interest to the consumer if they are expressed in terms of cost. But from a practical point of view there are many elements which combine to make another important factor, namely, satisfactoriness. Therefore, the efficiency of artificial lighting from the standpoint of the consumer should be the ratio of satisfactoriness to cost. However, the scientist is interested chiefly in the efficiency of the light-source which may be expressed in lumens per watt, or the amount of light obtained from a given rate of consumption or of emission of energy. This method of rating light-sources penalizes those radiating considerable energy which does not produce the sensation of light or which at best is of wave-lengths that are inefficient in this respect. That radiant energy which is wholly of a wave-length of maximum visibility, or, in other words, excites the sensation of yellow-green, is the most efficient in producing luminous sensation. Of course, no illuminants are available which approach this theoretical ideal and it is not likely that this would be a practical ideal. Under monochromatic yellow-green light the magical drapery of color would disappear and the surroundings would be a monochrome of shades of this hue. Having no colors with which to contrast this color, the world would be colorless. This should be obvious when it is considered that an object which is red under an illuminant containing all colors such as sunlight would be black or dark gray under monochromatic yellow-green light. The red under present conditions is kept alive by contrast with other colors, because the latter live by virtue of the fact that most of our present illuminants contain their hues. It is a.s.sumed that the reader knows that a red object, for example, appears red because it reflects (or transmits) red rays and absorbs the other rays in the illuminant. In other words, color is due to selective absorption reflection, or transmission.

Perhaps the ideal illuminant, which is most generally satisfactory for general activities, is a white light corresponding to noon sunlight. If this is chosen as the scientific ideal, the illuminants of the present time are much more "efficient" than if the most efficient light is the ideal.

The luminous efficiency of the radiant energy most efficient in producing the sensation of light (yellow-green) is about 625 lumens per watt. That is, if energy of this wave-length alone were radiated by a hypothetical light-source, each watt would produce 625 lumens. The luminous efficiency of the most efficient white light is about 265 lumens per watt; in other words, if a hypothetical light-source radiated energy of only the visible wave-lengths and in proportions to produce the sensation of white, each watt would produce 265 lumens. If such a white light were obtained by pure temperature radiation--that is, by a normal radiator at a temperature of 10,000F., which is impracticable at present--the luminous efficiency would be about 100 lumens per watt. The normal radiator which emits energy by virtue of its temperature without selectively radiating more or less energy in any part of the spectrum than indicated by the theoretical radiation laws is called a "black-body" or normal radiator. Modern illuminants have luminous efficiencies ranging from 5 to 30 lumens per watt, so it is seen that much is to be done before the limiting efficiencies are reached.

The amount of light obtained from various gas-burners for each cubic foot of gas consumed per hour varies for open gas-flames from 5 to 30 lumens; for Argand burners from 35 to 40 lumens; for regenerative lamps from 50 to 75 lumens; and for gas-mantles from 200 to 250 lumens.

In the development of light-sources, of course, any harmful effects of gases formed by burning or chemical action must be avoided. Some of the fumes from arcs are harmful, but no commercial arc appears to be dangerous when used as it is intended to be used. Gas-burners rob the atmosphere of oxygen and vitiate it with gases, which, however, are harmless if combustion is complete. That adequate ventilation is necessary where oxygen is being consumed is evident from the data presented by authorities on hygiene. A standard candle when burning vitiates the air in a room almost as much as an adult person. An ordinary kerosene lamp vitiates the atmosphere as much as a half-dozen persons. An ordinary single mantle burner causes as much vitiation as two or three persons.

In order to obtain a bird's-eye view of progress in light-production, the following table of relative luminous efficiencies of several light-sources is given in round numbers. These efficiencies are in terms of the most efficient (yellow-green) light.

Efficiency in per cent.

Sperm-candle 0.02 Open gas-flame .04 Incandescent gas-mantle .19 Carbon filament lamp .05 Vacuum Mazda lamp 1.3 Gas-filled Mazda lamp 2 to 3 Arc-lamps 2 to 7 White light radiated by "black-body" 16 Most efficient white light 40 Firefly 95 Most efficient light (yellow-green) 100

The luminous efficiency of a light-source is distinguished from that of a lamp. The former is the ratio of the light produced to the amount of energy radiated by the light-source. The latter is the ratio of the light produced to the total amount of energy consumed by the device. In other words, the luminous efficiency of a lamp is less than that of the light-source because the consumption of energy in other parts of the lamp besides the light-source are taken into account. These additional losses are appreciable in the mechanisms of arc-lamps but are almost negligible in vacuum incandescent filament lamps. They are unknown for the firefly, so that its luminous efficiency only as a light-source can be determined. Its efficiency as a lighting-plant may be and perhaps is rather low.

VIII

MODERN GAS-LIGHTING

As has been seen, the lighting industry, as a public service, was born in London about a century ago and companies to serve the public were organized on the Continent shortly after. From this early beginning gas-light remained for a long time the only illuminant supplied by a public-service company. It has been seen that throughout the ages little advance was made in lighting until oil-lamps were improved by Argand in the eighteenth century. Candles and open-flame oil-lamps were in use when the Pyramids were built and these were common until the approach of the nineteenth century. In fact, several decades pa.s.sed after the first gas-lighting was installed before this form of lighting began to displace the improved oil-lamps and candles. It was not until about 1850 that it began to invade the homes of the middle and poorer cla.s.ses.

During the first half of the nineteenth century the total light in an average home was less than is now obtained from a single light-source used in residences; still, the total cost of lighting a residence has decreased considerably. If the social and industrial activities of mankind are visualized for these various periods in parallel with the development of artificial lighting, a close relation is evident. Did artificial light advance merely hand in hand with science, invention, commerce, and industry, or did it illuminate the pathway?

Although gas-lighting was born in England it soon began to receive attention elsewhere. In 1815 the first attempt to provide a gas-works in America was made in Philadelphia; but progress was slow, with the result that Baltimore and New York led in the erection of gas-works. There are on record many protests against proposals which meant progress in lighting. These are amusing now, but they indicate the inertia of the people in such matters. When Bollman was projecting a plan for lighting Philadelphia by means of piped gas, a group of prominent citizens submitted a protest in 1833 which aimed to show that the consequences of the use of gas were appalling. But this protest failed and in 1835 a gas-plant was founded in Philadelphia. Thus gas-lighting, which to Sir Walter Scott was a "pestilential innovation" projected by a madman, weathered its early difficulties and grew to be a mighty industry.

Continued improvements and increasing output not only altered the course of civilization by increased and adequate lighting but they reduced the cost of lighting over the span of the nineteenth century to a small fraction of its initial cost.

Think of the city of Philadelphia in 1800, with a population of about fifty thousand, dependent for its lighting wholly upon candles and oil-lamps! Washington's birthday anniversary was celebrated in 1817 with a grand ball attended by five hundred of the elite. An old report of the occasion states that the room was lighted by two thousand wax-candles.

The cost of this lighting was a hundred times the cost of as much light for a similar occasion at the present time. Can one imagine the present complex activities of a city like Philadelphia with nearly two million inhabitants to exist under the lighting conditions of a century ago?

To-day there are more than fifty thousand street lamps in the city--one for each inhabitant of a century ago. Of these street lamps about twenty-five thousand burn gas. This single instance is representative of gas-lighting which initiated the "light age" and nursed it through the vicissitudes of youth. The consumption of gas has grown in the United States during this time to three billion cubic feet per day. For strictly illuminating purposes in 1910 nearly one hundred billion cubic feet were used. This country has been blessed with large supplies of natural gas; but as this fails new oil-fields are constantly being discovered, so that as far as raw materials are concerned the future of gas-lighting is a.s.sured for a long time to come.

The advent of the gas-mantle is responsible for the survival of gas-lighting, because when it appeared electric lamps had already been invented. These were destined to become the formidable light-sources of the approaching century and without the gas-mantle gas-lighting would not have prospered. Auer von Welsbach was conducting a spectroscopic study of the rare-earths when he was confronted with the problem of heating these substances. He immersed cotton in solutions of these salts as a variation of the regular means for studying elements by injecting them into flames. After burning the cotton he found that he had a replica of the original fabric composed of the oxide of the metal, and this glowed brilliantly when left in the flame.

This gave him the idea of producing a mantle for illuminating purposes and in 1885 he placed such a mantle in commercial use. His first mantles were unsatisfactory, but they were improved in 1886 by the use of thoria, an oxide of thorium, in conjunction with other rare-earth oxides. His mantle was now not only stronger but it gave more light.

Later he greatly improved the mantles by purifying the oxides and finally achieved his great triumph by adding a slight amount of ceria, an oxide of cerium. Welsbach is deserving of a great deal of credit for his extensive work, which overcame many difficulties and finally gave to the world a durable mantle that greatly increased the amount of light previously obtainable from gas.

The physical characteristics of a mantle depend upon the fabric and upon the rare-earths used. It must not shrink unduly when burned, and the ash should remain porous. It has been found that a mantle in which thoria is used alone is a poor light-source, but that when a small amount of ceria is added the mantle glows brilliantly. By experiment it was determined that the best proportions for the rare-earth content are one part of ceria and ninety-nine parts of thoria. Greater or less proportions of ceria decreased the light-output. The actual percentage of these oxides in the ash of the mantle is about 10 per cent., making the content of ceria about one part in one thousand.

Mantles are made by knitting cylinders of cotton or of other fiber and soaking these in a solution of the nitrates of cerium and thorium. One end of the cylinder is then sewed together with asbestos thread, which also provides the loop for supporting the mantle over the burner. After the mantle has dried in proper form, it is burned; the organic matter disappears and the nitrates are converted into oxides. After this "burning off" has been accomplished and any residual blackening is removed, the mantle is dipped into collodion, which strengthens it for shipping and handling. The collodion is a solution of gun-cotton in alcohol and ether to which an oil such as castor-oil has been added to prevent excessive shrinkage on drying.

The materials and structure of the fabric of mantles have been subjected to much study. Cotton was first used; then ramie fibers were introduced.

The ramie mantle was found to possess a greater life than the cotton mantle. Later the mantles were mercerized by immersion in ammonia-water and this process yielded a stronger material. The latest development is the use of an artificial silk as the base fabric, which results in a mantle superior to previous mantles in strength, flexibility, permanence of form, and permanence of luminous property. This artificial silk mantle will permit of handling even after it has been in use for several hundred hours. This great advance appears to be due to the fact that after the artificial-silk fibers have been burned off, the fibers are solid and continuous instead of porous as in previous mantles.

The color-value of the light from mantles may be varied considerably by altering the proportions of the rare-earths. The yellowness of the light has been traced to ceria, so by varying the proportions of ceria, the color of the light may be influenced.

The inverted mantle introduced greater possibilities into gas-lighting.

The light could be directed downward with ease and many units such as inverted bowls were developed. In fact, the lighting-fixtures and the lighting-effects obtainable kept pace with those of electric lighting, notwithstanding the greater difficulties encountered by the designer of gas-lighting fixtures. Many problems were encountered in designing an inverted burner operating on the Bunsen principle, but they were finally satisfactorily solved. In recent years a great deal of study has been given to the efficiency of gas-burners, with the result that a high level of development has been reached.

Several methods of electrical ignition have been evolved which in general employ the electric spark. Electrical ignition and developments of remote control have added great improvements especially to street-lighting by means of gas. Gas-valves for remote control are actuated by gas pressure and by electromagnets. In general, the gas-lighting engineers have kept pace marvelously with electric lighting, when their handicaps are considered.

Various types of burners have appeared which aimed to burn more gas in a given time under a mantle and thereby to increase the output of light.

These led to the development of the pressure system in which the pressure of gas was at first several times greater than usual. The gas is fed into the mixing tube under this higher pressure in a manner which also draws in an adequate amount of air. In this way the combustion at the burner is forced beyond the point reached with the usual pressure.

Ordinary gas pressure is equal to that of a few inches of water, but high-pressure systems employ pressures as great as sixty inches of water. Under this high-pressure system, mantle-burners yield as high as 500 lumens per cubic foot of gas per hour.

The fuels for gas-lighting are natural gas, carbureted water-gas, and coal-gas obtained by distilling coal, but there are different methods of producing the artificial gases. Coal-gas is produced a.n.a.lytically by distilling certain kinds of coal, but water-gas and producer-gas are made synthetically by the action of several const.i.tuents upon one another. Carbureted water-gas is made from fixed carbon, steam, and oil and also from steam and oil. Producer-gas is made by the action of steam or air or both upon fixed carbon. Water-gas made from steam and oil is usually limited to those places where the raw materials are readily available. The composition of a gas determines its heating and illuminating values, and const.i.tuents favorable to one are not necessarily favorable to the other. Coal-gas usually is of lower illuminating value than carbureted water-gas. It contains more hydrogen, for example, than water-gas and it is well known that hydrogen gives little light on burning.

It has been seen in a previous chapter that the distillation of gas from coal for illuminating purposes began in the latter part of the eighteenth century. From this beginning the manufacture of coal-gas has been developed to a great and complex industry. The method is essentially destructive distillation. The coal is placed in a retort and when it reaches a temperature of about 700F. through heating by an outside fire, the coal begins to fuse and hydrocarbon vapors begin to emanate. These are generally paraffins and olefins. As the temperature increases, these hydrocarbons begin to be affected. The chemical combinations which have long existed are broken up and there are rearrangements of the atoms of carbon and hydrogen. The actual chemical reactions become very complex and are somewhat shrouded in uncertainty.

In this last stage the illuminating and heating values of the gas are determined. Usually about four hours are allowed for the complete distillation of the gaseous and liquid products from a charge of coal.

Many interesting chemical problems arise in this process and the influences of temperature and time cannot be discussed within the scope of this book. Besides the coal-gas, various by-products are obtained depending upon the raw materials, upon the procedure, and upon the market.

After the coal-gas is produced it must be purified and the sulphureted hydrogen at least must be removed. One method of accomplishing this is by washing the gas with water and ammonia, which also removes some of the carbon dioxide and hydrocyanic acid. Various other undesirable const.i.tuents are removed by chemical means, depending upon the conditions. The purified gas is now delivered to the gas-holder; but, of course, all this time the pressure is governed, in order that the pressure in the mains will be maintained constant.

Much attention has been given to the enrichment of gas for illuminating purposes; that is, to produce a gas of high illuminating value from cheap fuel or by inexpensive processes. This has been done by decomposing the tar obtained during the distillation of coal and adding these gases to the coal-gas; by mixing carbureted water-gas with coal-gas; by carbureting inferior coal-gases; and by mixing oil-gas with inferior coal-gas.

Water-gas is of low illuminating value, but after it is carbureted it burns with a brilliant flame. The water-gas is made by raising the temperature of the fuel bed of hard coal or c.o.ke by forced air, which is then cut off, while steam is pa.s.sed through the incandescent fuel. This yields hydrogen and carbon monoxide. To make carbureted water-gas, oil-gas is mixed with it, the latter being made by heating oil in retorts.

A great many kinds of gas are made which are determined by the requirements and the raw materials available. The amount of illuminating gas yielded by a ton of fuel, of course, varies with the method of manufacture, with the raw material, and with the use to which the fuel is to be put. The production of coal-gas per ton of coal is of the order of magnitude of 10,000 cubic feet. A typical yield by weight of a coal-gas retort is,

10,000 cubic feet of gas 17 per cent.

c.o.ke 70 " "

tar 5 " "

ammoniacal liquid 8 " "

The c.o.ke is not pure carbon but contains the non-volatile minerals which will remain as ash when the c.o.ke is burned, just as if the original coal had been burned. On the crown of the retort used in coal-gas production, pure carbon is deposited. This is used for electric-arc carbons and for other purposes. From the tar many products are derived such as aniline dyes, benzene, carbolic acid, picric acid, napthalene, pitch, anthracene, and saccharin.

A typical a.n.a.lysis of the gas distilled from coal is very approximately as follows,

Hydrocarbons 40 per cent.

Hydrogen 50 " "