page_title: Kerosene lamp
section_title: Flat-wick lamp
hierarchical_section_title: Kerosene lamp / Types / Flat-wick lamp
caption_attribution_description: English: NZR Lamp on the Weka Pass Railway.
context_page_description: A kerosene lamp is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. Kerosene lamps have a wick or mantle as light source, protected by a glass chimney or globe; lamps may be used on a table, or hand-held lanterns may be used for portable lighting. Like oil lamps, they are useful for lighting without electricity, such as in regions without rural electrification, in electrified areas during power outages, at campsites, and on boats. There are three types of kerosene lamp: flat-wick, central-draught, and mantle lamp. Kerosene lanterns meant for portable use have a flat wick and are made in dead-flame, hot-blast, and cold-blast variants.
  Pressurized kerosene lamps use a gas mantle; these are known as Petromax, Tilley lamps, or Coleman lamps, among other manufacturers. They produce more light per unit of fuel than wick-type lamps, but are more complex and expensive in construction and more complex to operate. A hand-pump pressurizes air, which forces liquid fuel from a reservoir into a gas chamber. Vapor from the chamber burns, heating a mantle to incandescence and also providing heat.
context_section_description: A flat-wick lamp is a simple type of kerosene lamp, which burns kerosene drawn up through a wick by capillary action. If this type of lamp is broken, it can easily start a fire. A flat-wick lamp has a fuel tank (fount), with the lamp burner attached. Attached to the fuel tank, four prongs hold the glass chimney, which acts to prevent the flame from being blown out and enhances a thermally induced draft. The glass chimney needs a "throat", or slight constriction, to create the proper draft for complete combustion of the fuel; the draft carries more air (oxygen) past the flame, helping to produce a smokeless light, which is brighter than an open flame would produce.
  The chimney is used for a more important duty.  The mantle/wick holder has holes around the outer edges.  When the lantern is lit and a chimney is attached, the thermally induced draft draws air thru these holes and passes over the top of the mantle, just as a chimney in your house.  This has a cooling effect and keeps the mantle from over heating.  Without a properly installed chimney, a definite safety condition exists.  This is even more important if using Aladdin  lamps.  They also have a thinner chimney to induce a faster air-flow.  This information should be adhered to regardless of the type of lantern in use. 
  The lamp burner has a flat wick, usually made of cotton. The lower part of the wick dips into the fount and absorbs the kerosene; the top part of the wick extends out of the wick tube of the lamp burner, which includes a wick-adjustment mechanism. Adjusting how much of the wick extends above the wick tube controls the flame. The wick tube surrounds the wick and ensures that the correct amount of air reaches the lamp burner.  Adjustment is usually done by means of a small knob operating a cric, which is a toothed metal sprocket bearing against the wick.  If the wick is too high, and extends beyond the burner cone at the top of the wick tube, the lamp will produce smoke and soot (unburned carbon). When the lamp is lit, the kerosene that the wick has absorbed burns and produces a clear, bright, yellow flame.  As the kerosene burns, capillary action in the wick draws more kerosene up from the fuel tank. All kerosene flat-wick lamps use the dead-flame burner design, where the flame is fed cold air from below, and hot air exits above.
  This type of lamp was very widely used by railways, both on the front and rear of trains and for hand signals, due to its reliability.  At a time when there were few competing light sources at night outside major towns, the limited brightness of these lamps was adequate and could be seen at sufficient distance to serve as a warning or signal.
caption: New Zealand Railways lamp on the Weka Pass Railway
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