Wolf, Carl

SUBJECT AREA: Mining and extraction technology

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b. 23 December 1838 Zwickau, Saxony, Germany

d. 30 January 1915 Zwickau, Saxony, Germany

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German inventor of the most popular petroleum spirit safety lamp for use in mines.

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From an old mining family in the Saxon coalfields, Wolf was aware from his youth of the urgent demand for a miner's lamp which would provide adequate light but not provoke firedamp explosions. While working as an engineer in Zwickau, Wolf spent his spare time conducting experiments for such a lamp. The basic concept of his invention was the principle that dangerous concentrations of methane and air would not explode within a small pipe; this had been established almost seventy years earlier by the English chemist Humphrey Davy. By combining and developing certain devices designed by earlier inventors, in 1883 Wolf produced a prototype with a glass cylinder, a primer fixed inside the lamp and a magnetic lock. Until the successful application of electric light, Wolfs invention was the safest and most popular mining safety lamp. Many earlier inventions had failed to address all the problems of lighting for mines; Davy's lamp, for example, would too quickly become sooty and hot. As Wolfs lamp burned petroleum spirit, at first it was mistrusted outside Saxony, but it successfully passed the safety tests in all the leading coal-producing countries at that time. As well as casting a safe, constant light, the appearance of the cap flame could indicate the concentration of fire-damp in the air, thus providing an additional safety measure. Wolfs first patent was soon followed by many others in several countries, and underwent many developments. In 1884 Heinrich Friemann, a merchant from Eisleben, invested capital in the new company of Friemann and Wolf, which became the leading producer of miners' safety lamps. By 1914 they had manufactured over one million lamps, and the company had branches in major mining districts worldwide.

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Further Reading

F.Schwarz, 1914, Entwickelung und gegenwär-tiger Stand der Grubenbeleuchtung beim Steinkohlen-Bergbau, Gelsenkirchen (a systematic historical outline of safety lamp designs).

WK