NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Davy lamp

The Davy lamp is a candle containing safety lamp devised in 1815 by Humphry Davy. It was created for use in coal mines, allowing deep seams to be mined despite the presence of methane and other flammable gases, called firedamp or minedamp. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (491x640, 128 KB) Description: en:Davy lamp (safety lamp for use in coal mines) Source: Bibliothek allgemeinen und praktischen Wissens fÃ¼r MilitÃ¤ranwÃ¤rter Band III, 1905 / Deutsches Verlaghaus Bong & Co Berlin * Leipzig * Wien * Stuttgart Author: Scan made by Kogo... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (491x640, 128 KB) Description: en:Davy lamp (safety lamp for use in coal mines) Source: Bibliothek allgemeinen und praktischen Wissens fÃ¼r MilitÃ¤ranwÃ¤rter Band III, 1905 / Deutsches Verlaghaus Bong & Co Berlin * Leipzig * Wien * Stuttgart Author: Scan made by Kogo... Safety lamp is the name of a variety of lamps for safety in coal-mines against coal dust, methane, or firedamp, a highly explosive mixture of natural gas apt to accumulate in them. ... The Battle of New Orleans 1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Sir Humphry Davy. ... Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the mining of coal. ... The simplest hydrocarbon, methane, is a gas with a chemical formula of CH4. ... A gas is one of the four main phases of matter (after solid and liquid, and followed by plasma), that subsequently appear as a solid material is subjected to increasingly higher temperatures. ... Firedamp is a flammable gas found in coal mines. ...

Davy had discovered that, to explode, the gas must be heated to its ignition temperature and that if such heating is prevented, combustion cannot occur. If the flame in a lamp is surrounded by metal gauze to distribute the heat over a large area, the maximum temperature of the screen is below the ignition temperature of the gas. The first trial of a Davy lamp with a wire sieve was at Hebburn Colliery on 9 January 1816. Gasoline explosions, simulating bomb drops at an airshow. ... Ignition occurs when the heat produced by a reaction becomes sufficient to sustain the reaction, whether it be a fire, an explosion, or nuclear fusion. ... For the Japanese Hardcore Punk Band, see Gauze. ... Hebburn is a small town situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in North East England, sandwiched between the towns of Jarrow and Gateshead. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1816 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

The lamp also provided a crude test for the presence of gases. If inflammable gas mixtures were present, the flame of the Davy lamp burned higher with a blue tinge. Miners could also place a safety lamp close to the ground to detect gases, such as carbon dioxide, that are denser than air and so could collect in depressions in the mine, if the mine air was oxygen-poor, the lamp flame would be extinguished (chokedamp). Carbon dioxide is an atmospheric gas comprised of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. ...

There was some controversy, since George Stephenson also produced a similar safety lamp, called the Geordie lamp in 1815. George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 â€“ 12 August 1848) was an English mechanical engineer who designed a famous and historically important steam-powered locomotive named Rocket and is known as the Father of British Steam Railways. The Victorians considered him a great example of diligent application and thirst for... The Geordie lamp was invented by George Stephenson in 1815 as a solution to explosions due to firedamp in coal mines. ... The Battle of New Orleans 1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

How far the difference was appreciated at the time is hard to say; supporters of both men seem to have regarded the other as having copied their man’s idea and copied it wrongly. The Stephenson lamp (with no gauze around the flame) gave a brighter light and was popular with the pitmen. The Davy lamp was simpler and cheaper to make and was popular with the mineowners. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

There were supposed safety arguments on both sides: in principle, a poorly maintained (or badly designed) Davy lamp could overheat the gauze if it met a high concentration of methane. A more serious objection to the Stephenson lamp was that it stopped being a safety lamp if the glass was broken. In the long term, the Davy lamp (or at least the principle of a gauze enclosure round the flame) won out.

The introduction of the Davy lamp actually led to an increase in accidents in mines as the availability of the lamp encouraged the working of mines that had previously been closed for safety reasons. [1]

See also

Categories: Lamps | Mining | English inventions This page is a list of sources of light. ... Lighting refers to either artificial light sources such as lamps or to natural illumination of interiors from daylight. ... A lamp, in technical usage, is a replaceable component such as an incandescent light bulb, which is designed to produce light from electricity. ... An incandescent light bulb and its glowing filament. ... An incandescent light bulb and its glowing filament. ... A Parabolic Aluminized Reflector light, or PAR light, is a type of light commonly used in motion picture production when a substantial amount of light is required for a scene. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (311x649, 278 KB) Summary I made this from an existing Public Domain JPEG. Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A spiral type compact fluorescent light bulb. ... A compact fluorescent lamp with an integrated electronic ballast A fluorescent lamp is a type of lamp that uses electricity to excite mercury vapor in argon or neon gas, resulting in a plasma that produces short-wave ultraviolet light. ... High-intensity discharge (HID) lamps include the types of electrical lights: mercury vapor, metal halide, high-pressure sodium, low-pressure sodium and less common, xenon short-arc lamps. ... A Mercury-vapor lamp is a gas discharge lamp which uses mercury in an excited state to produce light. ... Metal halide lamps are similar to Mercury vapor lamps, but instead of just mercury, they also contain all metals in the halide group of the periodic table (Hence the name). ... Lighting neon lamp, two 220/230 volt and 110 V neon lamps and a screwdriver with neon lamp inside A neon lamp is a gas discharge lamp containing neon gas (or in types with different colors also other noble gas) at low pressure. ... A sodium vapor lamp is a gas discharge lamp which uses sodium in an excited state to produce light. ... The 300,000-watt Plasma Arc Lamp in the Infrared Processing Center (IPC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory An arc lamp is a device that produces light by the sparking (or arcing, from voltaic arc or electric arc) of a high current between two carbon rod electrodes. ... Hydrargyrum Medium-Arc Iodide, frequently called just HMI is a mercury-halide discharge short arc lamp with a color temperature of approximately 5600K. The name is derived from Hydrargyrum, an archaic term for mercury while Iodide indicates that iodine is the halogen used to form the active compound. ... 15 kW Xenon short-arc lamp used in IMAX projectors Xenon arc lamps are an artificial light source. ... A Yablochkov candle (sometimes electric candle) is a type of electric carbon arc lamp, invented in 1876 by Pavel Yablochkov. ... Carbide lamps (acetylene lamps) are simple lamps that produce and burn acetylene by reacting calcium carbide with water. ... A collection of lit candles on ornate candlesticks A close-up image of a candle showing the wick and the various regions of the flame. ... Gas lighting is the process of burning piped natural gas or coal gas for illumination. ... Russian wick kerosene lamp. ... Limelight is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. ... Antique bronze oil lamp with Christian symbol (replica) An oil lamp is a device used for lighting or for preserving a flame that is fueled by animal, vegetable or mineral oil. ... In contrast with all other electrical lamps that use electrical connections through the lamp envelope to transfer power to the lamp, in electrodeless lamps the power needed to generate light is transferred from the outside of the lamp envelope by means of (electro)magnetic fields. ... Blue, green and red LEDs. ... Fiber Optic strands An optical fiber in American English or fibre in British English is a transparent thin fiber for transmitting light. ... An eight-inch (20 cm) diameter plasma globe The effect of a conducting object (such as a hand) in close proximity to the plasma globe glass The central electrode of a plasma globe. ... Safety lamp is the name of a variety of lamps for safety in coal-mines against coal dust, methane, or firedamp, a highly explosive mixture of natural gas apt to accumulate in them. ...

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See also