Thanks guys for your kind words.
I intend to build a blog with a full technical description of those Thermo-lanterns.
A patent is already filed, so there is no reason to hold anything back.
My goal is to give it a shot for fundraising at Kickstarter. (either for making steampunk thermo-lanterns as those depicted, but more refined i guess or to go mainstream and develop cheaper thermo-lanterns in greater production like an alternative to mantle lanterns for general use or indoor use)
Their advantage is less power consumption almost 1/3 of fuel for equal luminosity (for current efficiencies) , not very hot spots on that lamps, low glare, subtleness
Their disadvantage obviously is their complexity.
Time will tell.
Just to answer the curious ones, it employs just one 40x40mm TEG element (Peltier) by II-VI Marlow.
Steampunk is only for the looks. It is a really functional piece as already told.
No, the light is not electronically dimmable. It is analogic dimmable by just turning the flame down. It takes a bit to do so due to thermal inertia, but who is in a hurry?
Those lamps have been made so as to be also power generators( 4 watts out max) (because i could )
Circuit employs OP-AMPs, for dynamic impedance matching, a 2 stage boost converter (in that version) for a low voltage output rail and a higher voltage output rail, a burner fan regulator (knob on right side), USB voltage regulator etc.
The circuitry is totally custom made - hand drawn concept, components searched in databases and purchased, arranged and tested at breadboard, then Eagle drawn to specific pcb dimensions, PCB printed, hand soldered, debugged, proceed to version 2, version 3 etc
i have some experience in custom made circuitry, but it takes me a while to do properly.
Besides electronics, a lot of those lamps parts had to be created and refined by experimentation, as the heat exchanger, the chimney, or the burner.
Great efforts were given for achieving efficiency in every aspect of it, having the final look in mind always.