1. A Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a kind of ambient air gas burner used as laboratory equipment; it produces a single open gas flame, and is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion. The gas can be natural gas, which is mainly methane, or a liquefied petroleum gas, such as propane, butane, a mixture or, as Bunsen himself used, coal gas. Combustion temperature achieved depends in part on the adiabatic flame temperature of the chosen fuel mixture. == History == In 1852, the University of Heidelberg hired Bunsen and promised him a new laboratory building. The city of Heidelberg had begun to install coal-gas street lighting, and the university laid gas lines to the new laboratory. The designers of the building intended to use the gas not just for lighting, but also as fuel for burners for laboratory operations. For any burner lamp, it was desirable to maximize the temperature of its flame, and minimize its luminosity (which represented lost heating energy). Bunsen sought... from wikipedia.org