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Mysterious black spot in polar explorer's diary offers gruesome clue to his fate

52 points by Thevet 6y ago

pottertheotter 6y ago
"He recorded his final thoughts in a diary, and the last page included a heavy black smudge. Researchers recently conducted extensive analysis of the spot, finding that it contained burnt rubber, oils and feces. These traces hint at Brønlund's desperate and unsuccessful attempts to light a life-saving petroleum burner before he succumbed to cold and hunger, scientists wrote in a new study."
- rootsudo 6y ago
  And now a world, a century later knows of his last thoughts and...his feces. What a world, this science thing.
ashtonkem 6y ago
> These traces hint at Brønlund's desperate and unsuccessful attempts to light a life-saving petroleum burner before he succumbed to cold and hunger, scientists wrote in a new study. To expand on this: the fundamental problem with all stoves is the need to drive the fuel up from the bottle and into the burner vents where it can be burned. The problem in that on its own fuel often does not want to do that, especially when it is cold. How exactly they accomplished this in the past is actually pretty tricky to pull off, so it's not surprising that he expired while trying and failing to light his stove. Your typical modern pocket stove[0] operates on what we call "Isopro" fuel. It's a mixture of isobutane and propane that's really excited to return to a gaseous form. The stove sits on top of the bottle, depresses the valve built into the cylinder, and regulates the gas leaving on its own. They're convenient and easy to operate, but they were invented well after 1908, so they weren't available to him. Also, while modern fuel mixes are proudly marked as "all weather", they are not. Depending on isopro fuel in freezing temperatures will at best leave you with canisters that perform poorly, at worst they will leave you without any fuel at all. These are not recommended for winter camping. Liquid fuel stoves[1] need some mechanical pressure to get the fuel to the nozzle (since liquids tend to stay down) and some starting heat to convince them to vaporize to a gas for easier burning. All liquid fuels include both some sort of mechanical pump, usually on the fuel bottle, and a design that allows the fuel line to get hot enough to vaporize it. Modern liquid stoves often run the fuel line through the flame, which can help even run isopro fuel at much lower temperatures. The starting procedures[2][3] for all of these stoves involve burning something, usually some of the fuel for modern stoves, in a small "priming cup" below the main stove. This early burn pre-heats all of the stove, which allows it to begin vaporizing the liquid fuel even in the worst conditions possible. The issue, I think, is that kerosene is a pretty inconsistent fuel, and not one that plays nice at lower temperatures. Kerosene has a surprisingly high freezing temperature of -47F, and is probably a real bear to light at sub-zero temps. I suspect that's why it's recommended that you use alcohol to start the fire, as alcohol freezes at about -173F. And that's assuming that by "petroleum" they meant kerosene. Gasoline or Diesel might start misbehaving at sub zero temps too, and fail to light with a match alone. Perhaps a mix of "petroleum" along with other unpleasant substances could have been enough to light the stove, but it appears to have been too much for the already exhausted explorer. [0] - https://www.msrgear.com/stoves/canister-stoves/pocketrocket-2-stove/09884.html https://www.msrgear.com/stoves/canister-stoves/pocketrocket-... [1] - https://www.msrgear.com/stoves/liquid-fuel-stoves/whisperlite/11782.html https://www.msrgear.com/stoves/liquid-fuel-stoves/whisperlit... [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXXaIU0VNx0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXXaIU0VNx0 [3] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_zRgcmSWh0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_zRgcmSWh0
- Aloha 6y ago
  There are three kinds of liquid fuel stoves: 1) Burns Alcohol directly, runs in liquid cycle, somewhat inefficient. Think Sterno burner type deal, I know there are others. 2) Burns Naptha, starts in liquid cycle (by lighting the volatile components in the fuel), then starts running in gas cycle once it heats up. (this is a normal Coleman Fuel stove) 3) Burns Kerosene, these stoves must use either naphtha or alcohol to start by burning in a staring cup, this is the kind of stove featured, Kero is not match lightable (not enough light volatile components in the fuel), so you preheat the gas generator to turn the kero into a gas, which can be match lit.
  - ashtonkem 6y ago
    Whoops, I totally forgot about alcohol stoves, good call. I’ve personally never used them, so they just slipped my mind. 2 & 3 are certainly different in their starting properties, but from a stove perspective they seem to be the same, at least today. My MSR Whisperlite Universal can consume isopro, white gas, kerosene, or in a real emergency auto gas. The only difference between the three appears to be the shape of the brass nozzle that sprays the heated & pressurized fuel into the mixing chamber. Although for the reasons you listed, I obviously would prefer Naptha if I was planning ahead, since it’s easier to get going in a dire situation.
    - Aloha 6y ago
      Generator size too, kero needs a larger generator, but Kero also has much better energy density per gallon than naphtha. But you need two fuels to match start a Kero stove (or a butane torch) as Kero is not match lightable (neither is diesel)
      - ashtonkem 6y ago
        Looking into it, I think Kerosene can be lit with a match under normal circumstances, but the time and temperatures it takes make it practically impossible under inclement conditions when it matters. Kerosene has a flash point of 100F, while Diesel has a flash point between 100F and 160F, depending on the grade. You can light a small puddle of diesel using a match[0], since wood burns at well over 400F, you just need the patience for the match to slowly heat up the diesel to it’s flash point. Given that Kerosene has an equal or lower flash point, it should work too. The issue of course is ambient temp. Heating up a small puddle of Kerosene from 70F to 100F using a small match might be doable, but getting it up to 100F from -20F might not be. Never mind how much faster everything cools down when it’s that cold outside and blowing. 0 - https://youtu.be/7soVqyGq4i4 https://youtu.be/7soVqyGq4i4

52 points by Thevet 6y ago

"He recorded his final thoughts in a diary, and the last page included a heavy black smudge. Researchers recently conducted extensive analysis of the spot, finding that it contained burnt rubber, oils and feces. These traces hint at Brønlund's desperate and unsuccessful attempts to light a life-saving petroleum burner before he succumbed to cold and hunger, scientists wrote in a new study."

rootsudo 6y ago
And now a world, a century later knows of his last thoughts and...his feces. What a world, this science thing.

ashtonkem 6y ago

> These traces hint at Brønlund's desperate and unsuccessful attempts to light a life-saving petroleum burner before he succumbed to cold and hunger, scientists wrote in a new study. To expand on this: the fundamental problem with all stoves is the need to drive the fuel up from the bottle and into the burner vents where it can be burned. The problem in that on its own fuel often does not want to do that, especially when it is cold. How exactly they accomplished this in the past is actually pretty tricky to pull off, so it's not surprising that he expired while trying and failing to light his stove. Your typical modern pocket stove[0] operates on what we call "Isopro" fuel. It's a mixture of isobutane and propane that's really excited to return to a gaseous form. The stove sits on top of the bottle, depresses the valve built into the cylinder, and regulates the gas leaving on its own. They're convenient and easy to operate, but they were invented well after 1908, so they weren't available to him. Also, while modern fuel mixes are proudly marked as "all weather", they are not. Depending on isopro fuel in freezing temperatures will at best leave you with canisters that perform poorly, at worst they will leave you without any fuel at all. These are not recommended for winter camping. Liquid fuel stoves[1] need some mechanical pressure to get the fuel to the nozzle (since liquids tend to stay down) and some starting heat to convince them to vaporize to a gas for easier burning. All liquid fuels include both some sort of mechanical pump, usually on the fuel bottle, and a design that allows the fuel line to get hot enough to vaporize it. Modern liquid stoves often run the fuel line through the flame, which can help even run isopro fuel at much lower temperatures. The starting procedures[2][3] for all of these stoves involve burning something, usually some of the fuel for modern stoves, in a small "priming cup" below the main stove. This early burn pre-heats all of the stove, which allows it to begin vaporizing the liquid fuel even in the worst conditions possible. The issue, I think, is that kerosene is a pretty inconsistent fuel, and not one that plays nice at lower temperatures. Kerosene has a surprisingly high freezing temperature of -47F, and is probably a real bear to light at sub-zero temps. I suspect that's why it's recommended that you use alcohol to start the fire, as alcohol freezes at about -173F. And that's assuming that by "petroleum" they meant kerosene. Gasoline or Diesel might start misbehaving at sub zero temps too, and fail to light with a match alone. Perhaps a mix of "petroleum" along with other unpleasant substances could have been enough to light the stove, but it appears to have been too much for the already exhausted explorer. [0] - https://www.msrgear.com/stoves/canister-stoves/pocketrocket-2-stove/09884.html https://www.msrgear.com/stoves/canister-stoves/pocketrocket-... [1] - https://www.msrgear.com/stoves/liquid-fuel-stoves/whisperlite/11782.html https://www.msrgear.com/stoves/liquid-fuel-stoves/whisperlit... [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXXaIU0VNx0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXXaIU0VNx0 [3] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_zRgcmSWh0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_zRgcmSWh0

Aloha 6y ago
There are three kinds of liquid fuel stoves: 1) Burns Alcohol directly, runs in liquid cycle, somewhat inefficient. Think Sterno burner type deal, I know there are others. 2) Burns Naptha, starts in liquid cycle (by lighting the volatile components in the fuel), then starts running in gas cycle once it heats up. (this is a normal Coleman Fuel stove) 3) Burns Kerosene, these stoves must use either naphtha or alcohol to start by burning in a staring cup, this is the kind of stove featured, Kero is not match lightable (not enough light volatile components in the fuel), so you preheat the gas generator to turn the kero into a gas, which can be match lit.
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  Whoops, I totally forgot about alcohol stoves, good call. I’ve personally never used them, so they just slipped my mind. 2 & 3 are certainly different in their starting properties, but from a stove perspective they seem to be the same, at least today. My MSR Whisperlite Universal can consume isopro, white gas, kerosene, or in a real emergency auto gas. The only difference between the three appears to be the shape of the brass nozzle that sprays the heated & pressurized fuel into the mixing chamber. Although for the reasons you listed, I obviously would prefer Naptha if I was planning ahead, since it’s easier to get going in a dire situation.
  - Aloha 6y ago
    Generator size too, kero needs a larger generator, but Kero also has much better energy density per gallon than naphtha. But you need two fuels to match start a Kero stove (or a butane torch) as Kero is not match lightable (neither is diesel)
    - ashtonkem 6y ago
      Looking into it, I think Kerosene can be lit with a match under normal circumstances, but the time and temperatures it takes make it practically impossible under inclement conditions when it matters. Kerosene has a flash point of 100F, while Diesel has a flash point between 100F and 160F, depending on the grade. You can light a small puddle of diesel using a match[0], since wood burns at well over 400F, you just need the patience for the match to slowly heat up the diesel to it’s flash point. Given that Kerosene has an equal or lower flash point, it should work too. The issue of course is ambient temp. Heating up a small puddle of Kerosene from 70F to 100F using a small match might be doable, but getting it up to 100F from -20F might not be. Never mind how much faster everything cools down when it’s that cold outside and blowing. 0 - https://youtu.be/7soVqyGq4i4 https://youtu.be/7soVqyGq4i4