Bunsen burner

Lore & Background

In 1852, the University of Heidelberg hired Robert Bunsen and promised him a new laboratory building. The city of Heidelberg had begun installing coal-gas street lighting, and the university laid gas lines to the new laboratory. The building's designers intended to use gas not only for lighting but also as fuel for burners. Bunsen sought to improve existing laboratory burner lamps for economy, simplicity, and flame temperature, adapting them to coal-gas fuel. While the building was under construction in late 1854, Bunsen suggested design principles to the university's mechanic, Peter Desaga, and asked him to construct a prototype. Similar principles had been used in an earlier burner design by Michael Faraday and in a device patented in 1856 by gas engineer R. W. Elsner. The Bunsen/Desaga design generated a hot, sootless, non-luminous flame by mixing gas with air in a controlled fashion before combustion. Desaga created adjustable slits for air at the bottom of the cylindrical burner, with the flame issuing at the top. When the building opened early in 1855, Desaga had made 50 burners for Bunsen's students. Two years later Bunsen published a description, and many colleagues soon adopted the design.

Reader's Guide

The Bunsen burner is a foundational piece of laboratory equipment, enabling controlled heating, sterilization, and combustion. Its design—mixing gas with air before combustion via adjustable slots—allows users to regulate flame temperature and luminosity. A yellow, luminous flame results from incomplete combustion and is considered a safety flame, while a blue, hotter flame indicates complete combustion. The burner is typically placed under a laboratory tripod on a heatproof mat. In microbiology, it is used to sterilize equipment and create an updraft, though research in 2026 indicated that contaminants may not be directed as presumed and could increase exposure. Variants such as the Teclu, Meker, and Tirrill burners offer improvements in mixing, temperature, and control. The Bunsen burner remains a symbol of practical laboratory innovation, directly stemming from the collaboration between Robert Bunsen and Peter Desaga at the University of Heidelberg.

Did You Know?

• The Bunsen burner was developed in late 1854 by Robert Bunsen and mechanic Peter Desaga at the University of Heidelberg.
• The yellow flame is called the 'safety flame' and is luminous due to small soot particles heated to incandescence.
• The burner's updraft may not direct contaminants away as presumed and could increase exposure.