Pintsch gas
Encyclopedia
Pintsch gas was a compressed gas derived from distilled naphtha
Naphtha
Naphtha normally refers to a number of different flammable liquid mixtures of hydrocarbons, i.e., a component of natural gas condensate or a distillation product from petroleum, coal tar or peat boiling in a certain range and containing certain hydrocarbons. It is a broad term covering among the...

 for illumination purposes during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

It was invented in 1851 by German inventor and manufacturer Julius Pintsch
Julius Pintsch
Carl Friedrich Julius Pintsch was a German tinsmith, manufacturer and inventor who is primarily known for the invention of the eponymously named Pintsch gas....

 (1815-1884). Its primary use in the latter half of the 19th century was for illumination of railroad cars. In several railway accidents Pintsch gas lamps added fuel to any fire which started, for example, in the Thirsk rail crash (1892), Quintinshill rail disaster (1915), and the Dugald rail accident (1947). Lamps using Pintsch gas burned brighter and longer than the existing oil lamp
Oil lamp
An oil lamp is an object used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and is continued to this day....

s they replaced. These lamps could also withstand vibration and rough usage without extinguishing the light. These features made Pintsch gas a popular solution for illumination of buoy
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...

s, beacon
Beacon
A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location.Beacons can also be combined with semaphoric or other indicators to provide important information, such as the status of an airport, by the colour and rotational pattern of its airport beacon, or of...

s and unmanned lighthouses, which allowed these devices to have the capability to remain lit for several months without servicing.

Electricity and other artificial means of lighting eventually replaced Pintsch illumination. However, it was still used in lighthouses and beacons long after it was replaced elsewhere.

External links

  • http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/sdgas.HtmlArticle regarding the Manufacture of Pintsch Gas from the Scientific American
    Scientific American
    Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...

    1898]
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