[pct-l] Alcohol Lantern Design Theory -- a possible solution

[randy_forsland@hotmail.com (Randy Forsland)]

Cool stuff for the lab....a combo alcohol lantern with a tungsten filament.
But, as an Engineer...I would have to say..probably not that practical..

The process of using heat to generate photons is pretty inefficient
...even modern day bulbs are pretty bad in this regard...and they are light
years ahead of the early experiments that you are now discovering..

Wouldn't the efficiency of today's high output LEDs be a better choice ?? A
couple of changes of batteries will be a lot lighter than the fuel needed to
produce the same amount of usable light...not to mention the changes of
filaments  that would be necessary in our oxygen-rich environment...




>From: "Tim Reid" <allangrey@hotmail.com>
>To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>Subject: [pct-l] Alcohol Lantern Design Theory -- a possible solution
>Date: Mon, 04 Nov 2002 14:14:03 +0000
>
>   Alcohol lantern -- what a great idea!
>   Ok, I love to tinker and the lantern's light problems were in the back
>of
>my mind. So, while I was relaxing after work and staring off into space,
>the
>postings about the alcohol lantern design popped into my head and I
>realized
>that I was staring at my light.
>   A thought occured to me, what did Edison make his first lightbulb out
>of?
>A wire, a glass bulb and electricity -- Ok, if I'm not remembering exactly
>it's been a long time since 7th grade science.
>   Ok, alcohol burns in the blue spectrum right? Humans see best in the
>yellow/red spectrum right-- at least that's what I see when I look at a
>candle flame.
>

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