cetylene Gas Cycls Lamds

Inangahua Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1239, 15 June 1898, Page 2

cetylene Gas Cycls Lamds

(Reprinted from the New Zealand Wheelman, June ist, 1898.) The beautiful illuminant, acetylene gas, is making great headway in the direction of adapting it for bicycle lamps. A representative of The WhecltHan waited on Mr Tyree, the manager of the New Zealand Acetylene JGas Coy., for some particulars. Mr Tyree explained that many attempts had been made during the last, six months in the manufacture of ibicyde lamps for the use of acetylene. Some of these lamps introduced^ were very crude and imperfect, j However, the difficulties have at lajt been thoroughly overcome. Thp lamp now being introduced by&ieNew Zealand Acetylene Gas Do. is claimed to be a I model of jerfection The lamp is known as the " Helios " and gives a seventy-fhe candle power "light ; lighting up the whole road. It is two hundred yards ahead of the rider, easflV charged, will not explode, nofyibes or separate attachment being 1 connected with it. The gas chamber is at <he bottom of the lamp, and;in this chamber the carbide of calcium is stored, and is kept in position by a pate and spring. xhe cr.rbide is s*ored around a perforated funnel, enclosing a ?ponge. Into this funnel the water driojs from a reservoir at the back of the lamp. A ball valve in the water pipe, checks the supp 1 )' of water, whi^h falls drop by drop into the sponge; and from the saturated sponge ther water exudes through the perforation- into the funnel and thus reaches the carbide, combining to form acetylene gas. Thp amount of g»s generated depends, of course, on the amount of water admitted to the carbide, and this admission is automatically regu'ated by the amount of • gas generated. When the pressure of gas in the chamber is above the normal, it presses against the. b. all valve in the water ' pipe, "and. ef^ciually stops the ' inflow of water. With this cutting ' off of the water supply, the genera- ' tion of gas slows until the normal ' pressure iij, the chamber is restored, '

when, with the decreased pressure i on the ball valve, the water flows j again drop by drop into the sponge, : and the generation of <ras is I quickened until the pressure again reaches the normal, and any increase on this automatically cuts off the water supply again. The chamber is strong enough to reaist several times the pressure necessary to supply the burner, and the noimal pressure is ample to afford a sufficient supply of gas. The light is smoKeless. The water chamber remains quite cool, and no j water is lost by evaporation. The lamp has the appearance of an ordinary oil lamp and weighs about the same. The price is about 255, and the cost of recharging is very trifling. As the present company are now forming a limited liabi ity company with a capital of £100,000 for the manufacture of carbide of calcium in New Zealand the price will iii a fewmontha, be considerably lower than it is at present.