I watched a great many videos by [Big Clive] the other
day. (I highly recommend his channel to halfbakers:
[link]. I
also recommend watching YouTube videos of that sort at
1.5× or 2× speed, the option for which is in the gear
menu at the bottom right of the player.)
A few of them were on
scented candles, wax melters,
and the like. One video was on melting wax with electric
heat to help it burn: [link]. It mentions a particular
scented candle product by Glade, which seems to try to
conduct heat from the flame to the wax with metal legs,
though ineffectively. Comments on the video also
suggested adding copper wire to a normal candle to
conduct heat down from the flame to melt the wax at
the
edge of the candle to help it get burned, because
sometimes it remains unmelted.
All of this also reminded me of one of [wbeaty]'s ideas,
that of putting multiple paper wicks into an existing
candle to produce a several-inch-tall roaring flame:
[link]. (I have done this and it works.)
Here is my idea: A candleholder for a tealight, votive, or
other wide candle, particularly a scented candle, that
consists of a base where the candle sits, with a vertical
tube of borosilicate glass or other heatproof and
preferably transparent material mounted above it, with
a gap between the candle's upper edge and the tube's
bottom end for air intake, with a durable heat-
conducting wick assembly, which contacts the top of the
candle
between its center (where its own wick is) and its edge
and extends upward and toward the center, mounted
inside the bottom of the tube in such a way that it can
slide vertically.
The tube may, preferably, have aerodynamic features to
promote swirling of the airflow as it ascends. The tube
may also be mounted to the base in such a way that it
can slide up and down to maintain its position relative to
the top of the candle as the candle is consumed, if the
candle is a caseless type (i.e. not a tealight). The wick
assembly may be in the shape of a cylindrical helix, a
conical helix, a pyramid, etc., and may be made of
fireproof fabric wrapped around metal, metal with
micro-grooves or other capillaries to draw the wax up, or
some other material or composite that fulfills the
purpose. The base may have anti-tip-over features such
as a
wide base area or wide legs. The tube or other parts may
be equipped with a safety cage or other features to
prevent damage or spread of fire if the candleholder is
impacted or knocked over. The top of the tube may also
be equipped with a disperser, which directs the flue gas
outward both to disperse scent more effectively and to
avoid inflicting thermal insult to any object above the
candleholder. The disperser may send the scented air farther by forming it
into vortices, as commercially available vortex air circulator fans do. The
disperser may also function as a soot filter or adsorber, or electrostatic
precipitator, similar to [tchaikovsky]'s Soot Shield idea: [link]. If it is an
electrostatic precipitator, it may be powered by the heat of the candle via a
thermoelectric generator, as commercially available heat-powered fireplace
fans are.
Operation is as follows: Raise the wick assembly up out
of the way of the candle. Insert the candle and seat it on
the base. Lower the wick assembly to rest on top of the
candle. Light the candle's own wick (which is already
impregnated with wax). Wait for it to melt some wax,
which will be wicked up by the wick assembly. This will
happen quickly, because the wick assembly collects heat
from the flame and conducts it down to the wax. Soon a
tall, roaring, swirling flame will fill the tube. As the
candle is consumed and gets shorter, the wick assembly
(and
the tube, if so equipped and/or configured) will slide
down to follow it.
The purpose of this is to facilitate the rapid dispersal of
scent from a scented candle, the enjoyment of fire, or
both.