Thermogenerating Lamp (Russian)

233. Thermogenerating Lamp (Russian) by Dr. Ralph Schoeneborn (rasc0003@stud.uni-sb.de)
     Posted: May 11, 1999 @ 11:19.
     Hi Fil:
     Here is photo of my last aquisition: a thermogenerator lamp.
     I know not very much about it; it was constructed in Russia. I do not know the time was it before, in, or after WWII. Perhaps it would be possible to post it on the Q & A page, perhaps somebody has an idea about the technical data.
     Best wishes, Ralph
     
     

• On May 16, 1999 @ 19:28, Willemina Venema & Anton Kaim (wilant@gironet.nl) wrote:
  Hallo Ralph,
  I have found in the 1996 Encarta Encyclpedia some more information about your thermogenerator lamp. The thermogenerator idea is not found by Peltier, as you explaned to me, by your fellow country man Thomas Seebeck in 1821. So your lamp uses the so called Seebeck effect. Seebeck uses heat to generate an electric current while Peltier, some years later, did do the reverse! According Encarta, these thermo electric (Seebeck) converters, powered by KEROSENE LAMPS, are widely used in Russia etc. to provide power for radio receivers in remote areas.
  Regards, Anton
  
  
  
• On May 19, 1999 @ 18:58, Fil Graff (fgraff@comcast.net) wrote:
  Ralph: FINALLY got the image up tonight! Doug Finch found the error in the html, and it works! My apologies for several days with a non-functional image icon.
  Seems hard to believe that a round wick lamp could generete enough heat in the chimney to generate electricity, but those ARE the "outlet" posts on the plate facing us. I wonder how much juice the beast puts out? :: Fil ::
  
  • On May 20, 1999 @ 09:07, Darryl Darwent (darryl_darwent@hotmail.com) wrote:
    Whether Y2K will adversely affect our communities on New Year's Eve or not, somebody who had a supply of these T-E/kerosene lamps could make a tidy profit.
    
    
    
  • On May 20, 1999 @ 16:33, Dr. Ralph Schoeneborn (rasc0003@stud.uni-sb.de) wrote:
    I will (if I have the right measurement of the lacking chimney and if I can find a flamespreader) try to burn the lamp! If I have luck, and the thermolelements are in working condition, I will see what I can do with the electricity.
    Yesterday I found an article about thermoelectricity in the issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN from November 1958. Another model of the lamp (table lamp) looking like a kerosene stove is pictured. The author is the well known Russian Physician Ioffe [that Anton mentioned]; he reported that in Russia several ten thousands of such lamps worked in deserted areas to produce electricity for radio transmitters.
    Wait and see what we can find in other written material about the lamp. Also looking to compose an article for the Guild's magazine perhaps.
    Ralph