Kerosene Lamp - Mantle Lamp

Mantle Lamp

A variation on the "central draught" lamp is the mantle lamp. The mantle is a roughly pear-shaped net made when new of fabric that contains thorium or other rare-earth salts; on first use the cloth burns away and the rare-earth salts are converted to oxides, leaving a very fragile structure which incandescences (glows brightly) upon combustion of fuel. Mantle lamps are considerably brighter than flat- or round-wick lamps, produce a whiter light, burn fuel faster, and generate more heat. They are bright enough to benefit from a lampshade. A few mantle lamps may be enough to heat a small building in cold weather. Mantle lamps, because of the higher temperature at which they operate, do not produce much odor, except when first lit or extinguished. Like flat- and round-wick lamps, they can be adjusted for brightness; if set too high the lamp chimney and the mantle become covered with soot. A lamp set too high will burn off its soot harmlessly if quickly turned down, but if not caught soon enough a "runaway lamp" condition can result.

Most mantle lamps contain a gas generator and require preheating the generator before lighting. An air pump is used to deliver fuel under pressure to the gas generator. One model of mantle lamp uses only a wick. Large fixed pressurized kerosene mantle lamps were used in lighthouse beacons for navigation of ships, brighter and with lower fuel consumption than oil lamps used before.