The Olympic flame, which symbolizes light, courage, unity and friendship, has become a symbol of the Olympic Movement, bringing together people of different skin colours for the same goal. One route, one kind of fire, the Olympics maintains the purity of the Olympic flame with a strict tradition. During the long process of torch relay, it travels through different cities, crosses the mountains, crosses the ocean, and any bad weather may occur. Why is the Olympic torch not extinguished?
High-tech power torch is not afraid of wind and rain
The torch can burn in a variety of environments and is inseparable from combustion supply systems and burners. Among them, the combustion supply system can be divided into three parts: fuel, voltage regulator and heat recovery device. In the process of the evolution and development of the Olympic torch, the fuel has gradually evolved from the original magnesium block into a gas such as propane that can stably burn in extreme weather. Propane gas has the characteristics of large heat of combustion, low boiling point, no fear of low temperature, bright flame, no fear of strong light, liquefaction and fear of strong pressure, so that it can adapt to various bad weather. The stabilizing device and the regenerative device further ensure stable combustion of the fuel. The voltage regulator can stabilize the pressure required for gas combustion and maintain the gas flame intensity in different weathers. The return device maintains the fuel chamber temperature, thereby ensuring the fuel combustion pressure. Fuel alone is not enough. If there is no burning technology, the stability of the flame is difficult to guarantee. Therefore, scientists from all over the world have worked hard on the design of burners. With the development of the times, the combustion technology of the Olympic torch burner is also constantly developing.
Changing Olympic torch
The earliest Olympic torch relay originated from the 11th Olympic Games held in Berlin in 1936. During the summer Olympics, there were no torches in the two sessions, and the rest had torches, plus a total of 19 Olympic torches in 2016. In the historical development, the shape of the torch has been constantly evolving. For example, the torch of the Athens Olympics simulates the shape of the olive leaf, and the Beijing Olympics mimics the paper scroll. The London Olympic Torch has 8,000 rings to pay tribute to 8,000 torchbearers. In addition to the shape, the Olympic torch is constantly integrated into the latest science and technology of all countries to ensure its long-burning.
However, there are always accidents, and various accidents will be encountered during the torch relay. So once the torch is extinguished, the torch must be ignited using the type of fire stored in the fire lamp. There is a partition in the flare combustion chamber that divides it into a main combustion chamber and a pre-combustion chamber. The two burners are combined, one is extinguished, and the other is the ignition lamp.
The tinder lamp is dedicated to storing the fire. After the daily transfer activity, the fire is stored in the fire lamp until the torch relay is re-ignited the next day when the torch relay starts again.
Diverse delivery methods
Passing the Olympic flame underwater
The 2000 Sydney Olympic Torch carried out a "romantic journey". The torchbearer carried a diving device and carried a three-minute underwater transfer in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef with a special torch. This was the first underwater torch relay in the history of the Olympic Games. In fact, the underwater flame is an excited particle, and the specific form can be understood as a continuous luminous gas.
Satellite relays the Olympic flame
The 1976 Montreal Olympic torch relay adopted the "Star Trek" approach. It was ignited in Olympia on July 13th. After the fire was transmitted to Athens, it was not transmitted by ship, plane or relay. Instead, it was transmitted to Canada by satellite laser technology. The heat of the flame was converted into electric waves and transmitted by satellite through sensors. To Canada, then use a laser to ignite the torch in Montreal.
——Author：Popular Science China - Science Principles