Wiktionary
n. A tool that burns iron in an oxygen-rich environment to create very high temperatures for cutting.
Wikipedia
A thermal lance, thermic lance, oxygen lance, or burning bar is a tool that heats and melts steel in the presence of pressurized oxygen to create the very high temperatures required for cutting. It consists of a long steel tube packed with alloy steel rods, sometimes mixed with aluminium rods to increase the heat output. One end of the tube is placed in a holder and oxygen is fed through the tube.
The far end of the tube is pre-heated and lit by an oxyacetylene torch. An intense stream of burning steel is produced at the workpiece end and can be used to cut rapidly through thick materials including steel and concrete. The tube is consumed, so every few minutes the operator shuts off the oxygen, discards the remaining stub of a lance tube and starts using a new one.
Although often used as a heavy duty demolition tool, the thermic lance can also be used to remove seized axles of heavy machinery without damaging the bearings or axle housing. This technique is most often used on the pins and axles of large equipment such as cranes, ships, bridges and sluice-gates.
The temperature at which a thermal lance operates varies depending on the environment. Kosanke gives the maximum temperature to be , while Wang calculates it to be .
Usage examples of "thermal lance".
Some of them sprouted arms, carrying esoteric equipment: ominous cannisters and something that looked like a thermal lance.
You could only go through that door if you had the lock's combination, or a thermal lance with an unlimited power source, or quite a few well-placed high velocity tank shells.
The glare of the oxy-arc thermal lance flooded the corridor, making ROV 3's own lights seem feeble in comparison.
Turned on the brilliant flame of the thermal lance and began to burn a circle in the bottom of the van.
The thermal lance in the Thing's nose burned a quick hole through the metal and it was off again.
The heat it generated, for one thing, had the power of a thermal lance and it could blow through steel as though it were butter.