[Stoves] MANTLE LAMP PHYSICS

[Kevin Chisholm]

Dear All

Concerning Mantle Lamp physics....

1: Is there a "minimum activation temperature" required for the Thoria 
mantle material to emit visible light? If so, what is it?

2: Presuming there is such a minimum activation temperature, does light 
intensity change with increased temperature? Is "light power" somewhat 
proportional to temperature?

3: If a mantle was heated in a vacuum or a neutral atmosphere, would it give 
the same light output at the same temperatures as observed when heated by a 
flame?

Thanks!

Kevin
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Crispin Pemberton-Pigott" <crispinpigott at gmail.com>
To: "Stoves" <stoves at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 6:09 AM
Subject: Re: [Stoves] MANTLE LAMP PHYSICS


> Dear Friends
>
> Just for the record, I tested the mantle lamp running on alcohol - the
> Britelyt - at ETHOS and it had a CO/CO2 ratio (COr) of 0.05% indicating an
> extremely clean burn.
>
> The small alcohol burner (made from a tin can) that Paul Anderson
> demonstrated, with carefully sized holes and hole orientation, was equally
> clean.  Both have numerous small flames burning in parallel.
>
> This shows that it is not necessary to have a high temperature to burn
> alcohol cleanly.  It also means that to get light, or significant amounts 
> of
> it, one pretty much has to get a high temperature that accidentally, 
> because
> of the porus mantle, creates small flames that burn cleanly.  Or is it the
> high temperature that makes it clean?
>
> A low cost two-burner alcohol burning stove was tested and found to have
> quite high COr which was reduced by 75% merely by lifting the pot up about
> 40 mm.  This gave more space for its much longer flames to complete 
> burning.
>
> The main visible difference between the two burner stove and the can is 
> the
> flame length, nothing else.  If the fuel is trying to burn in a flame
> running alongside a cold pot there is a significant difference in the CO
> produced by that condition alone.
>
> Regards
> Crispin
>
>
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