Up to 1893 the carbons of an arc lamp operated in the open air, so
that they were rapidly consumed, lasting from eight to sixteen hours
depending on their length and thickness. Louis B. Marks, an American,
found that by placing a tight fitting globe about the arc, the life
of the carbons was increased ten to twelve times. This was due to the
restricted amount of oxygen of the air in the presence of the hot
carbon tips and thus retarded their consumption. The amount of light
was somewhat decreased, but this was more than offset by the lesser
expense of trimming which also justified the use of more expensive
better quality carbons. Satisfactory operation required that the arc
voltage be increased to about 80 volts.
[Illustration: ENCLOSED ARC LAMP, 1893.
Enclosing the arc lengthened the life of the carbons, thereby greatly
reducing the cost of maintenance.]
This lamp rapidly displaced the series open arc. An enclosed arc lamp
for use on 110-volt constant potential circuits was also developed. A
resistance was put in series with the arc for use on 110-volt direct
current circuits, to act as a ballast in order to prevent the arc from
taking too much current and also to use up the difference between the
arc voltage (80) and the line voltage (110). On alternating current, a
reactance was used in place of the resistance.
The efficiencies in lumens per watt of these arcs (with clear
glassware), all of which have now disappeared from the market, were
about as follows:
6.6 ampere 510 watt direct current (D.C.) series arc, 8¼ l-p-w.
5.0 ampere 550 watt direct current multiple (110-volt) arc, 4½ l-p-w.
7.5 ampere 540 watt alternating current (A.C.) multiple (110-volt)
arc, 4¼ l-p-w.
[Illustration: OPEN FLAME ARC LAMP, 1898.
Certain salts impregnated in the carbons produced a brilliantly
luminous flame in the arc stream which enormously increased the
efficiency of the lamp.]
[Illustration: ENCLOSED FLAME ARC LAMP, 1908.
By condensing the smoke from the arc in a cooling chamber it was
practical to enclose the flame arc, thereby increasing the life of the
carbons.]
The reason for the big difference in efficiency between the series
and multiple direct-current arc is that in the latter a large amount
of electrical energy (watts) is lost in the ballast resistance. While
there is a considerable difference between the inherent efficiencies
of the D. C. and A. C. arcs themselves, this difference is reduced in
the multiple D. C. and A. C. arc lamps as more watts are lost in the
resistance ballast of the multiple D. C. lamp than are lost in the
reactance ballast of the multiple A. C. lamp.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account