Pyreliophorus
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The Pyreliophorus was a device similar to a
burning glass A burning glass or burning lens is a large convex lens that can concentrate the sun's rays onto a small area, heating up the area and thus resulting in ignition of the exposed surface. Burning mirrors achieve a similar effect by using reflecting s ...
, created by the Portuguese priest Manuel António Gomes, also known as ''padre Himalaya'', whose objective was to melt many different types of materials using solar energy. The device used several reflecting
mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...
s to concentrate the sunlight into a common point. With this device, it was possible to reach a temperature of around 3500 °C, enough to melt many types of metals and rocks. Unlike a common burning glass, the Pyreliophorus uses a concentric parabolic array of mirrors to concentrate the sun light into a common point, instead of a lens. The device uses a clock system that makes the mirror array concentric axis to rotate along the sun alignment. This device was one of the main attractions on the Saint Louis World's Fair in 1904, and it was awarded with two gold medals and with one silver medal. Himalaya protected his Pyreliophorus using the patent system in many jurisdictions, including the British one on the patent application numbe
GB190116181
or in the American with the patent applicatio
US797891


Gallery

Some figures of the Himalaya's British patent application File:Pyreliophorus 01.jpg File:Pyreliophorus 02.jpg File:Pyreliophorus 03.jpg


See also

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Burning glass A burning glass or burning lens is a large convex lens that can concentrate the sun's rays onto a small area, heating up the area and thus resulting in ignition of the exposed surface. Burning mirrors achieve a similar effect by using reflecting s ...


References

Portuguese inventions {{Renewable-energy-stub