Döbereiner's lamp

The platinum lighter, also called Dobereiner lighter, is one of the first lighters. It was developed in 1823 by Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner from the Fürstenberger lighter and distributed to about 1880.

In the Deutsches Museum, the Municipal Museum in Braunschweig, in the old pharmacy in Heidelberg Castle and the Bavarian Vogtland Museum in Döbereiner birthplace farm platinum lighters are seen in the exhibitions; also in the Goethe National Museum, Weimar.

Function of the platinum - lighter

In a glass dish filled with dilute sulfuric acid, there is a bell jar with a zinc flask. The upper end of the bell jar is sealed with a valve which can be opened by a lever, and then the gas escapes from the bell, the sulfuric acid enters the bell jar to react with the zinc. This reaction creates hydrogen, which escapes through the valve and a " platinum sponge " ( finely divided platinum ) is passed.

The platinum catalyzes the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen ( 2 H2 O2 → 2 H2O: oxyhydrogen reaction). By thus released heat (exothermic reaction) is ignited, the gas mixture and burns to form water.

If the lever is released, the valve is closed again, the hydrogen gas can not escape upward and pushes the acid out of the bell jar back into the reservoir.