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EzraThe Davy lamp is a gas lamp which can be safely used in flammable atmosphere. It was used in mines where fire damp was a danger. The lamp comprised a wick burning heavy vegetable oil has surrounded by a fine mesh. The allowed air (and firedamp) to go into the lamp and light to come out. But the mesh was too fine for the flame to ignite the flammable gases outside. If firedamp was present the flame burned bluer and so was a visible warning to miners.
It was also useful for alerting them to non-flammable but toxic gases such as CO2. The height of the flame would reduce in its presence alerting the miners to a hazard.
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Who invented the miner's safety-lamp?
Sir Humphry Davy in 1815
Why is miner's safety lamp a safe lamp?
The danger of methane gas (firedamp) being ignited by an open flame in coal mines was much reduced by the development of the flame safety lamp stemming from the work of Dr. William Clanny, George Stephenson and Sir Humphrey Davy. It is Davy who is credited with the true invention of the flame safety lamp in 1816. His idea was to isolate the flame from the flammable gas by means of a wire gauze surrounding the flame. Davy demonstrated that burning gases, on passing through the wire mesh is broken up into tiny streamlets which are so cooled by contact with the metal of the mesh that the flame is extinguished. It was found that the greatest safety could be obtained by a standard mesh formed by 28 steel wires per inch making 784 openings per square inch.
When was miners safety lamp invented?
The miners flame safety lamp was first invented in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy after the danger of methane gas and open flames prompted he and others to create a safer solution.
Can lamp work only on ac?
Depends. Lamps can certainly be built to work on either AC, or DC, or both. But some lamps, particularly those with electronics in them, either a dimmable lamp, or a fluorescent lamp, may only work with one type of electricity.
How do you open a Davy miners lamp?
You require a powerful electric magnet to release pins, and the correct holder. These lamps are impossible to open without one unless you cut it apart, so just look at it and enjoy.
