gas mantle

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gas mantle

Also known as: gas-mantle lamp, incandescent mantle, mantle

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June 29, 2026

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The gas mantle is a mesh bag made of fabric impregnated with nitrates of cerium and other metals. When placed over an orifice carrying a flammable gas, such as natural gas or propane, and ignited, the fabric burns away. This leaves a brittle lattice of metal oxides that glows brightly when heated by the gas combustion, producing light.1

Invented by Carl Auer, Freiherr von Welsbach, in 1885, the gas mantle significantly increased the light output of gas lamps. While largely replaced by electric incandescent lamps, it is still used in kerosene and other lanterns. The mantle itself does not burn, but the residual lattice glows from the heat of the gas.21

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incandescent lamp
Nonelectric incandescent lamps
Nonelectric incandescent lamps include the gas-mantle lamp. The mantle is a mesh bag of fabric impregnated with a solution of nitrates of cerium and one or more of the following metals: thorium, beryllium, aluminum, or magnesium. The mantle is fixed over an orifice carrying a flammable gas such as natural…
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Nonelectric incandescent lamps include the gas-mantle lamp. The mantle is a mesh bag of fabric impregnated with a solution of nitrates of cerium and one or more of the following metals: thorium, beryllium, aluminum, or magnesium. The mantle is fixed over an orifice carrying a flammable gas such as natural…
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history of technology
Electricity
…by the invention of the gas mantle. Thus improved, gas lighting remained popular for some forms of street lighting until the middle of the 20th century.
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…by the invention of the gas mantle. Thus improved, gas lighting remained popular for some forms of street lighting until the middle of the 20th century.
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lighthouse
Gas lamps
…from the pressure of the gas itself, to exploit the use of acetylene. Most of the equipment he designed entered general use. One device was an automatic mantle exchanger that brought a fresh mantle into use when the previous one had burned out. Another, economizing on gas, was the “sun…
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…from the pressure of the gas itself, to exploit the use of acetylene. Most of the equipment he designed entered general use. One device was an automatic mantle exchanger that brought a fresh mantle into use when the previous one had burned out. Another, economizing on gas, was the “sun…
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thorium processing
Thorium nitrate
…in the commercial production of gas mantles. Such mantles are made by impregnating cotton or synthetic fibres with a 25 to 50 percent solution of Th(NO₃)₄ containing 0.5 to 1 percent each of thorium sulfate and cerous nitrate. The impregnated fibres are treated with aqueous ammonia, producing thorium hydroxide, Th(OH)₄,…
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…in the commercial production of gas mantles. Such mantles are made by impregnating cotton or synthetic fibres with a 25 to 50 percent solution of Th(NO₃)₄ containing 0.5 to 1 percent each of thorium sulfate and cerous nitrate. The impregnated fibres are treated with aqueous ammonia, producing thorium hydroxide, Th(OH)₄,…
Read More