Power Supply Improvements for Ballasts-low Pressure Mercury/Argon Discharge Lamp for Water Purification.

The low-pressure electrical discharges established in the mercury rare gas mixtures are the basis of many applications both in the field of lighting and for industrial applications. In order to select an efficient high frequency power supply (ECG-based PWM inverter), we present and discuss results obtained in the simulation of three kinds of power supplies delivering a 0.65 A - 50KHz sinusoidal current dedicated to power low pressure UV Mercury - Argon lamp used for effect germicide on water treatment thus allowing maximum UVC radiation at 253.7 nm. Three ballasts half-bridge configurations were compared with criteria based on resulting germicide efficiency, electrical yield and reliability, for example the quality of the sinusoidal current with reduced THD, and finally, we also considered in this analysis the final economic aspect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]