Lamp metal halogen: features

The metal halide lamp belongs to the class of gas-discharge lamps. In their work, such devices use a gas discharge, and not the thermal glow of the filament. Such lamps can be called relatively young sources of light, the history of which is not more than fifty years. Their birth is connected with a number of experiments of scientists on the improvement of gas-discharge mercury lamps. From the point of view of the filling, their distinctive feature is the use as a working mixture of mercury vapors, salt compositions and gases. The composition of the salt mixture influences the shade of the emitted light. A metal halide lamp can emit light of a bluish or reddish hue. Inside the flask, the gas is at very high pressure.

Features of the device

Lamps metal halogen are included in the same way as luminescent lamps, as well as other gas-discharge lamps. For ignition, they require connection to the network by means of special starting-regulating equipment. When it is switched on in the fixture, a discharge occurs in argon, which starts an electric arc between the electrodes of the lamp bulb. In the switched off lamp, mercury and salts settle on the walls of the bulb in the form of particles. After starting, the electric arc immediately heats the flask, evaporating solid particles, after which the discharge continues in pairs of salts and mercury. The first minute the temperature increases very much, as does the brightness of the radiation. The metal halide lamp heats up to a temperature that exceeds a thousand degrees, which is why floodlights, in which such devices are used, are so large. To cool them, you need a large metal surface of the searchlight.

The metal halide lamp Philips works much more efficiently than fluorescent lamps, as almost 24 percent of the energy consumed in this case turns into light. Such products are produced in a fairly wide range of capacities - 20-20,000 watts, which allows it to be used universally. The design features vary in accordance with the power of the lamp.

Applications

A metal halide lamp of low power can be used in the same place as the traditional halogen lamp - in devices for office, home, advertising, inside museum expositions and shops. It is much more economical and effective than halogen, but it requires the installation of additional ballasts.

Metal halide lamp 150w is useful for lighting a large room or for a lamp in the courtyard of a private home. High power devices are suitable for professional lighting equipment - powerful searchlights, theatrical spotlights, photo and movie lighting equipment, as well as for some types of projectors.

An interesting field for the use of metal halide lamps can be the illumination of greenhouses and aquariums. They possess a spectrum of radiation favorable for the growth of plants and corals.

Such devices can be produced with two bulbs - external and internal. It is believed that this option has improved color characteristics.