Western Museum of Mining & Industry

Carbide Mine Lamps
Created by Marcos & Jonathan Perez-Blanco,
Museum Volunteers, Summer, 2004

The oldest known mine light is a flame wick device, which was found in an English chalk mine, and appears to have been used around 10,000 BC. The Romans were also known to have used oil lamps in their mines. Candles were introduced in the 1st century AD. In the 1700's many oil lamps and candle holders were designed specifically for use by miners. At the turn of the 20th century, mine lamps fueled by calcium carbide were invented, and mine lighting was greatly enhanced.

The Development of Calcium Carbide
Calcium carbide was discovered by accident in 1892, by Thomas L. Willson. He had been trying to isolate metallic calcium from a mixture of coke and lime in an 'improved' Herouldt electric furnace. Willson had planned to use the calcium to reduce aluminum oxide and produce metallic aluminum.However, instead of calcium, the product was a dark, brittle mass. Assumed to be useless waste, it was thrown into a stream. The material reacted vigorously with the water, releasing a noxious gas. The gas was ignited and it burned with a bright, sooty flame. The experiment was repeated and the product was analyzed. It was discovered to be calcium carbide which had released acetylene gas on contact with water. Today, calcium carbide is simply referred to as "carbide".

Willson was not successful in finding a market for his carbide, and his company was soon dissolved. However, by 1896, carbide was a booming industrial product. It was used for lighting trams, trains, ships, streets, and even homes. A carbide bicycle lamp was also invented, and soon after, similar lamps were being used in mines.

The first carbide mine light was probably invented by H. Hooke, a mine inspector in New South Wales, in 1897, five years after T. Willson's discovery. Carbide lamps represent a great improvement in mine lighting technology. Their bright, clean-burning flame distinguishes them from previous mine lamps, such as candles, oil wick lamps, and oil-burning safety lamps. This table compares the typical power (measured in candlepower, the brightness of the light emitted by one candle) of electric, oil, and acetylene cap lamps (headlamps):

T ype of Lamp

Candlepower

Electric Cap Lamp

11.0

Oil Cap Lamp

1.50

Acetylene Cap Lamp

5.00

From American Miners' Carbide Lamps by Gregg S. Clemmer, Westernlore Press, 1987, Tucson, AZ

How the Lamp Works
The diagram shows the inside of a carbide lamp. Carbide lamps consist of two chambers, the upper(1) holding water, and the lower(2) containing a supply of calcium carbide, CaC2. A 'stem valve' regulates the flow of water down a thin tube(3) to the lower chamber, where it reacts with the calcium carbide. The products of the reaction are acetylene gas, C2H2, which fuels the lamp, and solid calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2. The acetylene flows up through a small opening at the top of the lower chamber and out to the burner(4), where it is mixed with air (this makes the flame even brighter and greatly reduces the amount of soot).

To light the lamp a miner covers the shiny metallic reflector(5) with his hand, causing acetylene gas to collect inside, and then rapidly moves his hand over a flint wheel(6) mounted on the reflector, causing the gas that has collected under his hand to 'explode'. This small explosion then ignites the stream of gas coming from the burner, resulting in a steady flame.

Chemical Reactions
The chemical reactions produced by a carbide lamp are detailed below.

When fully charged with water and carbide, an average lamp weighed about 6 oz., a very reasonable weight, especially when compared with contemporary battery-powered electric lights. Catalogs from the 1910's show that most carbide lamps cost between $1.00-$6.00 (See the ads below), although a "Superintendent's Lamp" was sold for $18.00. By today's standards, this would be approximately 340 dollars. An average lamp would use 0.5oz/hr of carbide, which could be bought for 10c./lb, so it would cost 2.5c. to fuel a lamp for one eight-hour shift. Many lamps were advertised as "shift lamps", meaning that they would burn for an entire eight-hour shift without needing to be refueled; unfortunately, they only lasted about four hours, and miners would have to refill them during lunch break.

References:

Early Underground Mine Lamps - Mine lighting from Antiquity to Arizona by Henry A. Pohs, Arizona Historical Society, 1974, Tucson, AZ.
The Miners' Flame Light Book by Henry A. Pohs, Flame Publishing Co., 1995, Denver, CO.

American Miners' Carbide Lamps by Gregg S. Clemmer, Westernlore Press, 1987, Tucson, AZ.

National Carbide Lights, National Carbide Sales Corp., 1930, New York, NY.

The Carbic Light - The Standard Portable Flood Light for 14 years, Oxweld Acetylene Co., 1928, New York, NY.

Various catalogs of the Justrite Manufacturing Co.

Chemical Models created using ACD/Chemsketch, Copyright 1994-2001, Advanced Chemistry Developement Inc., 90 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 3V9, Canada

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