Working Principle of

Compact Fluorescent Lamp

Electrical Power Distribution and System (EE-358)

Submitted to: Dr. Mohsan Aman

By
Muhammad Hammad Aslam
(EE-067)

March 31, 2017

Department of Electrical Engineering NED University of Engineering and

Technology Karachi 75270
 Working Principle of Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL)

It is the desire of utility and consumer to reduce electrical loading by using electrical efficient
devices. Lighting load share a high percentage in the overall electrical load. In order to achieve the
goal the incandescent lamp which were in se for so many years are replace by compact fluorescent
lamp (CFL). The use of CFL is expected to save up to 10% of household energy. Due to the non-
linear characteristics of CFL because of the presence of electronic ballast, harmonic current is
injected by CFL to the system.
CFL life is almost seven times of that of incandescent lamp and use only one fourth of the power
to that of an equivalent incandescent bulb in terms of lumens. CFL has increased life and has better
luminance as compared to the old technology lamp. But it is unfortunate for CFL that electronic
ballast used in CFL consist of electronic component which consume large amounts of harmonic
current also the power factor is too low around 0.4 to 0.6 capacitive.
Types of Ballast:
Two types of ballasts, electromagnetic and electronic, are available for use with fluorescent lamps.
The purpose of ballast is to provide the starting voltage, limit the current consumed and help
stabilize supply voltage variations to the lamp.
Electromagnetic ballasts:
Electromagnetic ballasts consists of a wire wound coil connected in series with the tube is available
for use with compact fluorescent lamps. They limit current to the fluorescent lamp by serving a
high impedance load in series with the lamp at the system frequency. As they are completely
inductive in nature, so consume approximately 15 to 25 percent of the rated lamp power which is
dissipated as heat. In addition, they contain a low displacement power factor (approximately 0.5
lagging power factor) Electromagnetic ballasts are also responsible for harmonic current
generation and limitation. Harmonic current is generated due to nonlinear magnetic characteristics
of ballast but inductive nature of ballast helps to limit it.
Electronic ballasts:
AC voltage of high frequency is provided to the CFL by using solid state devices in electronic
ballasts. Electromagnetic ballast supplies the lamp with a system frequency current of 50/60 Hz,
the electronic ballast provides the lamp with 25 to 50 kHz frequency current using an inverter.

Electronic Ballast Consist of following Components:

EMI filter
Bridge rectifier
HF oscillator
Fluorescent tube

EMI filter:
Electromagnetic interference filter consist of inductor and capacitor. Its purpose is to filter the
source current connected to the input of the filter from unwanted harmonic currents consumed by
the load connected to the output of the filter. It is a two-port network, serving as a low-resistance
path to the neutral leg for undesired current harmonics utilized by the source.
Full wave bridge rectifier:
The rectifier converts the alternating voltage to direct voltage that is input to the high frequency
oscillator. A dc ripple voltage is obtained from the output of the rectifier with a fundamental
frequency equal to twice that of half wave rectifier, the amount of ripple voltage is significant. To
minimize the ripples in direct voltage, a low-pass filter is placed at the output of the bridge rectifier.
An inductor can be used as low pass filter placed in between the output of the bridge rectifier and
the load as a series component. We can also use a capacitor as a low pass filter placed in parallel
across the output of the rectifier and the load. Usually, an electrolytic capacitor is used due to the
relatively large size and high cost of inductors.
After the addition of low-pass capacitive filter at the output of the rectifier, the operating
characteristics of the rectifier changes.
High-frequency oscillator:
The purpose of the high-frequency oscillator used in electronic ballast is to supply AC voltage
with high frequency to the output circuitry that is to the fluorescent tube. This is achieved by using
two controlled solid-state switches in series at the output of the rectifier. The oscillator consists of
two controllable solid-state switches which convert the rectified DC voltage into the desired high-
frequency AC voltage supplied at the output section of the CFL. Normally, to implement the
switching of the oscillator, power MOSFETs are used. The power MOSFET is a controllable solid-
state switch, capable of withstanding relatively large off state voltages and "on" state currents.
The MOSFET is a three-terminal solid-state device consisting of a gate, drain, and source terminal.
It is controlled by the voltage applied across its gate and source terminals.
Fluorescent tube:
The fluorescent tube consists of a glass tube and end-caps which is filled with an inert gas and a
small amount of mercury housed. When a high frequency voltage is applied across the electrodes,
mercury-discharge occurs and a number of the electrons in the tube emit UV radiation. This UV
radiation when strike on the glass tube coated with fluorescent coating, it produces visible light.

There are a number of advantages of using electronic ballast. When electromagnetic ballast is used
to energize a fluorescent lamp, additional power from the electromagnetic ballast is required
because when the current reverses through the tube the mercury discharge loses most of its
electrons. This is due to a de-ionization of the gas in the tube which is supplied with a 50/60 Hz
ac voltage source. Thus, the discharge needs to be re-ignited periodically. On the other hand, for
fluorescent lamp energized with electronic ballast having switching frequency more than 10 kHz,
the discharge occurring in the tube does not require periodic re-ignition. Because of the relatively
high switching frequency of the electronic ballast, the gas in the discharge tube does not suffer
from an appreciable de-ionization and a sufficient number of electron carriers required for
discharge remain after current reversal. Thus, there is no power required to re-ignite the discharge,
which results in a 10% rise in luminous flux produced by the discharge tube. Other advantages of
using an electronic ballast instead of an electromagnetic ballast include decreased size and weight,
increased efficacy, reduced 50/60 Hz, and increased the life of lamp.

In CFL, an electric current passes through the fluorescent tube which contains argon with a small
portion of mercury vapors. In response invisible ultraviolet light generates which excites
phosphorous coating to produce fluorescent coating inside of the tube, so that visible light is
observed.
CFL wants current to heat the electrodes, after that high voltage is required for ignition, and a high
frequency alternating current. To achieve the target, the electronic ballast by using bridge rectifier
converts a low frequency alternating current to direct current at the input side, which is then
followed by a high frequency direct current to alternating current conversion at the output side.
An electromagnetic interference filters which is an electronic passive device used in order to
reduce conducted interference present on the main line. The alternating current is rectified, with
the help of electrolytic capacitor. Then it is chopped with the help of transistor to achieve a higher
frequency alternating current that is sent to the Toroidal transformer which is working at higher
frequency. The requirement of an initial high voltage to fire the lamp is fulfilled, so that the current
is controlled once the lamp fires. The inductor used as a resistor in series with the tube and the
high voltage, but with little wastage of power. Upon the application of source voltage to the circuit,
the startup circuit generates an input pulse because of which a high AC voltage generates across
the capacitor connected in parallel with the tube and tube starts to glow.