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Geordie lamp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Geordie lamp was invented by George Stephenson in 1815 as a solution to explosions due to firedamp in coal mines.
Although controversy arose between the Geordie and the Davy lamp, (invented by Humphry Davy in the same year), the two worked on significantly different principles. If the only way air could get to the flame was restricted (a baseplate pierced by a number of small-bore brass tubes was the usual way of doing this) and the lamp body above the flame lengthened, then the same amount of air could get to the flame, but would pass through the flow restriction at a velocity higher than the velocity of the flame in a mixture of firedamp (mostly methane) and air. This, then, prevented an explosive backblast that might light the surrounding air.
The name is possibly the route by which 'Geordie' became the familiar and affectionate epithet for Tynesiders, deriving from a diminutive form of the inventor's Christian name, George.
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