Meker-Fisher burner

Meker-Fisher burner

A Meker-Fisher Burner
Uses Heating
Sterilization
Combustion
Inventor French chemist Georges Méker
Related items Bunsen burner
Hot plate
Heating mantle

A Meker-Fisher burner or Meker burner is a laboratory burner that produces multiple open gas flames, used for heating, sterilization, and combustion. It is used when laboratory work requires a hotter flame than attainable using a Bunsen burner, or used when a larger-diameter flame is desired, such as with an inoculation loop or in some glassblowing operations. The burner was introduced by French chemist Georges Méker in an article published in 1909.[1]

The Meker-Fisher burner heat output can be in excess of 12,000 BTU (13,000 kJ) per hour (about 3.5 kW) using LP gas.[2] Flame temperatures of up to 1,100–1,200 °C (2,000–2,200 °F) are achievable. Compared with a Bunsen burner, the lower part of its tube has more openings with larger total cross-section, admitting more air and facilitating better mixing of air and gas. The tube is wider and its top is covered with a wire mesh which separates the flame into an array of smaller flames with a common external envelope, ensures uniform heating, and also prevents flashback to the bottom of the tube, which is a risk at high air-to-fuel ratios, and limits the maximum rate of air intake in a Bunsen burner. The flame burns without noise, unlike the Bunsen or Teclu burners.[1][3]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Merriam-Webster: Meker burner
  2. Durham Geo
  3. Hale, Charles W. (1915). Domestic Science, Volume 2. London: Cambridge University Press. p. 38.

External links