Electronic Ballast Fundamentals Dr Bryan M H Pong
Electronic Ballast Fundamentals Dr. Bryan M. H. Pong Hong Kong University
Fluorescent tubes l Much more efficient than incandescent lamps : 2 to 4 times more efficient l The lamps last a lot longer – 10 k to 20 k hours versus 0. 75 k to 1 k hours for an incandescent lamp l The lamps are much cooler than incandescent lamps
Lamp structure l The lamp is a sealed tube containing mercury vapor and some inert gases such as argon at very pressure l The inside of the tube is coated with phosphor l At the ends of the tube there are filaments or electrodes
Lamp structure l http: //home. howstuffworks. com/
How does it work? l l l When the tube is off it does not conduct It is turned on by a high voltage which excites the gas inside the tube Once the tube conducts on a lower voltage is sufficient to maintain conduction The electric current passes through the gas and emits UV, the internal phosphor coating converters the UV to visible light The color of the light cab be varied by different combinations of phosphors
How does it work? l http: //home. howstuffworks. com/
Lamp starting l When the lamps is off the tube is non conductive l The tube must be excited or started by a high voltage l After the lamps is started the lamp voltage drops l A current limiting “ballast” is needed in between the power source and the lamp
Start up circuit l http: //home. howstuffworks. com/
Conventional starter switch l l l A mechanical starter switch together with an inductive ballast start up the lamp The starter switch is a small discharge bulb containing a gas like neon. When connect to a voltage source the gas breaks down and the switch glows The heat generated bends the bimetallic switch and closes it One the switch is closed the glow is turned off and the bimetallic switch cools down and opens When the switch opens a series connected ballast provides a high voltage and strikes on the tube
Starter switch
High frequency ballast l Conventional ballast produces 100/120 Hz flicker l High frequency ballast is more efficient than magnetic ballast [3] l High frequency ballast, like most power electronics products, has smaller size and weight l Integrates ballast and starting functions
Rapid start http: //home. howstuffworks. com/fluorescent -lamp 5. htm
Basics of Electronic Ballasts C 1 L C 2 l l Half bridge configuration The resonant circuit strikes on the lamp
Lamp preheat & ignition Before strike on the tube has very high resistance and effectively it is an open circuit l Operation at a high frequency preheats the filaments l Operation near resonance produces high voltage across C 2 and strikes on the lamp l Ref <start 1> l
Run i(R 3) V(C 2) In the steady state the lamp resistance reduces greatly current is controlled by L & C 1 Ref <steady> l l
Typical operating points
Types of Ballast circuits l Self oscillating circuit l IC driven circuit l New Capacitor Couple Converter (CCC) circuit developed at the HKU Power Electronics Lab
Self Oscillating Ballast l Simple & low cost
IC driven Ballast l Easy to design
CCC Ballast Load 101 l l Low loss – zero voltage switching Reliable – automatic power limiting
Look up references on the web l Encyclopedia l http: //www. britannica. com/ l Books l http: //www. knovel. com/knovel 2/default. jsp l Company l http: //www. irf. com/technical-info/ l IEEE/ l web sites IEE papers http: //ieeexplore. ieee. org/Xplore/Dyn. Wel. jsp
What to do l Understand the fundamentals l Design the circuit and fill in the component parameters l Start to build the circuit in September l Expect a working circuit in December l Further work on lamp characteristics, power factor correction, comparison of topologies & dimming
References 1. 2. 3. 4. http: //home. howstuffworks. com/ http: //www. repairfaq. org/sam/flamp. htm#int 0 “HID Electronic Ballast Testing” Public Interest Energy Research Program (PIER) Program, California, USA T. Ribrarich “A Systems Approach to Ballast IC Design” IR Technical notes.
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