But one of the most interesting
applications of oil is that of
LIGHTING BUOYS,
in which case it is compressed into large reservoirs placed on a boat.
The buoys employed are generally of from 90 to 285 cubic feet capacity,
affording a lighting for from 35 to 100 days.
To the upper part of the buoy there is affixed a firmly supported tube
carrying at its extremity the lantern, c. The gas compressed to 6 or 7
atmospheres in the body of the buoy passes, before reaching the burner,
into a regulator analogous to the one installed on railway cars, but
modified in such a way as to operate with regularity whatever be the
inclination of the buoy. In the section showing the details of the
lantern on a large scale the direction taken by the air is indicated by
arrows, as is also the direction taken by the products of combustion.
These latter escape at m, through apertures in the cap of the apparatus.
[Illustration: COMPRESSED OIL GAS FOR LIGHTING CARS STEAMBOTS, AND
BUOYS.]
The regulator, B, in the interior of the lantern, brings to a uniform
pressure the inclosed gas, whose pressure continues diminishing as a
consequence of the consumption.
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