The city of Heidelberg had begun to install coal-gas street lighting, and the university laid gas lines to the new laboratory.

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 to improve existing laboratory burner lamps as regards economy, simplicity, and flame temperature, and adapt them to coal-gas fuel.

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 the gas with air in a controlled fashion before combustion.

If the collar at the bottom of the tube is adjusted so more air can mix with the gas before combustion, the flame will burn hotter, appearing blue as a result.

A Bunsen burner is also used in microbiology laboratories to sterilise pieces of equipment[7] and to produce an updraft that forces airborne contaminants away from the working area.