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The word blowtorch or blow torch has two meanings:

In USA usage, it is what in British English usage is called a blowlamp, various types of liquid- or gas-burning tools used for heating. They produce a much larger softer flame
Flame

A flame is the visible part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic reaction taking place in a thin zone. If a fire is hot enough to ionize the gaseous components, it can become a Plasma ....
 than an oxyacetylene torch and are used for low temperature applications - soldering
Soldering

Soldering is a process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, the filler metal having a relatively low melting point....
, brazing
Brazing

Brazing is a joining process whereby a filler metal or alloy is heated to melting temperature above ?or, by the traditional definition in the United States, above ?and distributed between two or more close-fitting parts by capillary action....
, melting roof tar
Tar

Tar is modified resin produced from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. It is a viscosity black liquid. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America....
, or pre-heating large casting
Casting

In metalworking, casting involves pouring a liquid metal into a Mold_, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then is allowed to solidify....
s before welding
Welding

Welding is a fabrication or sculpture process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence . This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes used in conjunction with heat, or by itself,...
, such as for repairing cast-iron cylinder heads, and for other direct rapid applications of heat such as in cooking
Cooking

Cooking is the process of preparing food by applying heat, selecting, measuring and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure for producing safe and edible food....
.






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Blowtorch
The word blowtorch or blow torch has two meanings:

In USA usage, it is what in British English usage is called a blowlamp, various types of liquid- or gas-burning tools used for heating. They produce a much larger softer flame
Flame

A flame is the visible part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic reaction taking place in a thin zone. If a fire is hot enough to ionize the gaseous components, it can become a Plasma ....
 than an oxyacetylene torch and are used for low temperature applications - soldering
Soldering

Soldering is a process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, the filler metal having a relatively low melting point....
, brazing
Brazing

Brazing is a joining process whereby a filler metal or alloy is heated to melting temperature above ?or, by the traditional definition in the United States, above ?and distributed between two or more close-fitting parts by capillary action....
, melting roof tar
Tar

Tar is modified resin produced from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. It is a viscosity black liquid. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America....
, or pre-heating large casting
Casting

In metalworking, casting involves pouring a liquid metal into a Mold_, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then is allowed to solidify....
s before welding
Welding

Welding is a fabrication or sculpture process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence . This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes used in conjunction with heat, or by itself,...
, such as for repairing cast-iron cylinder heads, and for other direct rapid applications of heat such as in cooking
Cooking

Cooking is the process of preparing food by applying heat, selecting, measuring and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure for producing safe and edible food....
. They cannot be used for welding, but find many other uses, not least because in their simplest form of a disposable canister feeding a hand-held torch they are very cheap and highly portable, and because the LPG fuel is very cheap in comparison to acetylene
Acetylene

Acetylene is the chemical compound with the symbol carbonhydrogen. It is the simplest alkyne.As an alkyne, acetylene is Saturation because its two carbon atoms are Chemical bond together in a triple bond....
 and oxygen
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
.

Technically by USA word usage "blowtorch" must burn a liquid fuel using a vaporizer.

In technical or trade usage, modern torches are never called "blowtorches"; they are instead referred to by the type of fuel they consume. For example, a "propane torch
Propane torch

A propane torch is a tool for burning the flammable gas propane. The maximum adiabatic flame temperature a propane torch can achieve with air is 2268 kelvins ....
", "acetylene
Acetylene

Acetylene is the chemical compound with the symbol carbonhydrogen. It is the simplest alkyne.As an alkyne, acetylene is Saturation because its two carbon atoms are Chemical bond together in a triple bond....
-air torch", or "oxyacetylene torch
Oxy-fuel welding and cutting

Oxy-fuel welding and oxy-fuel cutting are processes that use fuel gases and oxygen to weld and cut metals, respectively. French engineers Edmond Fouche and Charles Picard were the first to develop a oxygen-acetylene welding machine in 1903....
". Some torches are also named for their intended use: "cutting torch" and "plumber's torch", for example.

In British English, blowtorch often means an oxy-gas torch
Oxy-fuel welding and cutting

Oxy-fuel welding and oxy-fuel cutting are processes that use fuel gases and oxygen to weld and cut metals, respectively. French engineers Edmond Fouche and Charles Picard were the first to develop a oxygen-acetylene welding machine in 1903....
.

Designs

Various designs exist:

  • A form invented in Sweden by C.R. Nyberg, patented in 1882: that form is a simple heat
    Heat

    In physics and thermodynamics, heat is any transfer of energy from one body or thermodynamic system to another due to a difference in temperature....
    ing torch
    Torch

    Originally, a torch was a portable source of fire used as a source of light, usually a rod-shaped piece of wood with a rag soaked in pitch and/or some other flammable material wrapped around one end....
    , which burns liquid fuel
    Fuel

    Fuel is any material that is burned or altered in order to obtain energy and to heat or to move an object. Fuel releases its energy either through a chemical reaction means, such as combustion, or nuclear means, such as nuclear fission or nuclear fusion....
     (such as kerosene
    Kerosene

    Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid....
     (USA) / paraffin oil (*UK), or more recently biodiesel
    Biodiesel

    Biodiesel refers to a non-petroleum-based diesel fuel consisting of long chain alkyl esters, made by transesterification of vegetable oil or animal fat , which can be used in unmodified diesel-engine vehicles....
    ), with ambient atmospheric
    Atmosphere

    An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, by the gravity of the body, and are retained for a longer duration if gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low....
     air after vaporizing it using a coiled tube passing through the flame. They take time to start, needing pre-heating with burning methylated spirit
    Methylated spirit

    Denatured alcohol is ethanol which has been rendered toxic or otherwise undrinkable, and in some cases dyed. It is used for purposes such as fuel for spirit burners and camping stoves, and as a solvent....
    . If there is any doubt as to the integrity of the pressurized fuel tank or any of the seals in the torch, it should be treated strictly as an antique — if the tank bursts there is a very real risk of explosion
    Explosion

    An explosion is a sudden increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases....
     or fire
    Fire

    Fire is the oxidation of a combustion material releasing heat, light, and various Chemical reaction products such as carbon dioxide and water....
    .
  • A form that burns liquid petroleum gas (e.g. propane
    Propane

    Propane is a three-carbon alkane, normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. It is derived from other petroleum products during oil or natural gas processing....
     or butane
    Butane

    Butane, also called n-butane, is the unbranched alkane with four carbon atoms, CH3CH2CH2CH3....
    ) with ambient atmospheric air.


In both sorts the fuel tank often is small and serves also as the handle, and usually is refuelled by changing the fuel tank with the liquified gas in it.

  • A form fed from a liquid petroleum gas cylinder via a hose, which burns the gas with ambient atmospheric air: .


Variants

A flame gun is a large type of blowlamp with built-in fuel tank, used for various purposes: weed control by controlled burn
Controlled burn

Controlled or prescribed burning, also known as hazard reduction burning is a technique sometimes used in forest management, farming, prairie restoration or Greenhouse gas abatement....
 methods, melting snow and ice off walk and driveways in the winter, starting a fire, etc. It is commonly confused in word usage with a flamethrower
Flamethrower

A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of fire.Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited liquid fuel; some project a long Liquefied petroleum gas flame....
.

Media


See also

  • Propane torch
    Propane torch

    A propane torch is a tool for burning the flammable gas propane. The maximum adiabatic flame temperature a propane torch can achieve with air is 2268 kelvins ....
  • Butane torch
    Butane torch

    A butane torch is a tool for burning the flammable gas butane.The maximum adiabatic flame temperature a butane torch can achieve withair is 2243 kelvin ....
  • Oxy-fuel welding and cutting
    Oxy-fuel welding and cutting

    Oxy-fuel welding and oxy-fuel cutting are processes that use fuel gases and oxygen to weld and cut metals, respectively. French engineers Edmond Fouche and Charles Picard were the first to develop a oxygen-acetylene welding machine in 1903....
  • Gas burner
    Gas burner

    A gas burner is a device to generate a flame to heat up products using a gaseous fuel such as acetylene, natural gas or propane. Some burners have an air inlet to mix the fuel gas with air to make a Combustion....


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