ADalén light is a flashing light produced from burning ofcarbide gas (acetylene), combined with a solar sensor which automatically operates the light only during darkness.
In the last quarter of the 19th century navigation buoys began to be illuminated, however at first the lights were fixed (continuous) and could be mistaken for ship's navigation lights.[1]Gustaf Dalén invented a valve which could be adjusted to deliver pulses of acetylene into the lamp. A pilot light, which burns continuously, then ignited them.[2] The pattern of flashes (known as the light'scharacteristic) can be set by screw adjustments.[3] The invention of this system resulted in Dalén being awarded the 1912Nobel Prize in Physics.[3] Gas was wasted however due to illumination during the day and subsequently Dalén developed thesun valve to shut off the flashes during daylight.[3]
The technology was a form of light source inlighthouses from the 1900s through the 1960s, when electric lighting had become dominant.[4] Dalén later invented theAGA cooker in 1922 whilst recuperating from an accident with acetylene which blinded him.[3] Thecarbide lamp was developed in the early 1900s. While the lamps proved useful in many applications, the problem of safely storingacetylene meant they needed regular refilling which constrained their use in applications such as lighthouses.[5]
Lighthouses using Dalén lighting have included:
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| Types |
| _-_cropped.jpg) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fixtures | ||||||
| Maintenance | ||||||
| Locations | ||||||
| Categories | ||||||
| Global organizations | ||||||
 | This engineering-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
 | Thislighthouse-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
