Development of Fluorescent Lamp

by James Winson
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An electrical engineer is more than an electrician. The engineer specializing in electrical instrumentation and automation can repair and maintain automation and control systems. The electrician cannot, however, undertake such advanced skill activities.

A fluorescent lamp is one of the earliest products made by an earlier generation of electrical engineer. It is a gas discharge lamp that utilizes electricity to excite mercury vapor. The mercury atoms generate short wave ultraviolet light that cause a phosphor to fluoresce. A visible light is thus produced. It is more efficient than an incandescent lamp. Larger fluorescent lamps are used in commercial lighting applications. However, they are increasingly seen in domestic use. Their energy saving characteristic has made them increasingly popular. Fluorescent lamps began to be developed from the 1920s. An electrical engineer of those times can access decades of previous development and invention. The main components of electrical lamps were already invented: glass tubing, inert gas filling, electrical ballasts, long-lasting electrodes, mercury vapor as a source of luminescence, fluorescent coatings that can be energized by ultraviolet light and an electrical discharge that can be produced whenever required. All this laid the foundation of the development of the fluorescent lamp.

The first fluorescent lamp was manufactured by General Electric in 1934. The process was consequently patented and the General Electric Company began to sell the product from 1938. Demand for the lights increased throughout the Second World War and in the post war years, maximum light at night-time was emitted by fluorescent lamps in the United States. Although zinc orthosilicate with varying content of beryllium was used in manufacturing, halophosphate based phosphors were adopted in the manufacturing process after it was discovered that beryllium is toxic.

To a power systems engineer, a type of electrical engineer, a fluorescent lamp tube is filled with a gas containing low pressure mercury vapor and argon, xenon, neon or krypton. The pressure inside the lamp is approximatelt 0.3 percent of the atmospheric pressure. The bulb's inner surface is coated with a fluorescent coating. The coating is made up of varying blends of metallic and rare-earth phosphor salts. The electrodes of the bulb are made of coiled tungsten. They are coated with a mix of barium, strontium and calcium oxides. The ingredients are chosen as they have a low thermionic emission temperature. Fluorescent lamps are generally straight in shape. Length of the lamps vary from 3.9 inches to 8 ft. A number of designs exist. The tube of some lamps is bent into a circle. This is done to fit the lamp into a compact space. Compact fluorescent lamps have a number of small diameter tubes joined in a bundle of two, four or six or a small diameter tube coiled into a spiral to provide a high amount of light output in little volume. Light emitting phosphors are applied as paint like coating to the tube interiors. The organic solvents are then allowed to evaporate and the tube is then heated to almost the melting point of glass. The grain size of the suspended phosphors is carefully controlled. The best particle size is approximately 10 micrometers. The coating must be thick enough to capture all UV light generated by the mercury arc.

James Winson is the author of this article. He is an electrical engineer and considers himself an expert in automation and instrumentation.

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