How to make a kerosene lamp burn brighter and more economically
If you have a kerosene lamp in your house (and many people keep it in case of a power outage), let's use the secrets of Dr. Auer — make it burn brighter and more economically.
To make the kerosene lamp burn brighter and more economically
First of all, we will add a special pin to the lamp. This is a piece of wire with a diameter of 3 mm and a length of 60-70 mm with a threaded thread at the end. Drill a hole in the burner and fix the pin with two nuts from above and from below. The Auer cap will be put on it (see the picture).
Previously, such caps were sewn from cotton fabric and impregnated with nitric acid salts of aluminum, magnesium or rare earth elements. The fabric gradually burned out, the salts turned into oxides, and the thinnest mineral «skeleton» remained from the cap. Even on a very weak flame, it quickly heated up and emitted a blinding bright light. Of course, such a structure is fragile, but with good treatment it will last a lot — a year or more. We can make a cap from modern materials, for example, fiberglass, thereby increasing its durability. We recommend stitching fiberglass with brackets made of nichrome wire taken from the spiral of an old electric stove. The shape and dimensions of the cap are to be clarified experimentally. The main reference point is the brightness of the glow.
The secrets of impregnation of Auer caps are lost. But the table found in the old book will help us. The shades of the glow of various oxides are indicated here, and in conventional units — the light intensity created at the same time. And to make it easier for you to navigate, let's say that the brightness of the flame is normal kerosene lamp in these units 10-15.
| Oxide | Color shade | Light intensity |
|---|---|---|
| aluminum | bluish-white | 31.56 units |
| lanthanum | white | 28.32 units |
| yttria | yellowish-white | 22.96 units |
| zirconium | white | 15.30 units |
| cerium | reddish | 5.02 units |
The most pleasant light was given by a mixture of aluminum and yttrium oxides (in a ratio of 2/3 to 1/3), the brightest was a mixture of aluminum oxides, zirconium, lanthanum. Well, where can I get all these reagents? Aluminum nitrate can be found in the school chemistry room, the rest is in special stores. And if you are not lucky, use the advice from the same book — try to heat thin-walled river shells in the flame of the lamp.
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