•A device required by electric-discharge light

sources such as fluorescent or HID lamps to

regulate voltage and current supplied to the
lamp at the start and throughout the
operation.
•Ballasts vary greatly in complexity. They can
be as simple as a series resistor as commonly
used with small neon lamps.
•For higher-power installations, too much
energy would be wasted in a resistive ballast,
so alternatives are used that depend upon the
reactance of inductors, capacitors, or both.
Finally, ballasts can be as complex as the
computerized, remote-controlled electronic
ballasts used with fluorescent lamps.
Why an Electronic Ballast is
Needed
 A lighting ballast is necessary to operate discharge lights
because they have negative resistance.

 The discharge light sources are unable to regulate the

amount of current that passes through them.

 A lighting ballast must be used to control current flow;

otherwise the light source could fail .
Electronic Lamp Ballast...
 Uses solid state electronic circuitry to provide the proper
starting and operating electrical condition to power one or
more fluorescent lamps and more recently HID lamps.
 Usually change the frequency of the power from the
standard mains (e.g, 50Hz in India) frequency to 20,000 Hz
or higher, substantially eliminating the “Stroboscopic
Effect”u of flicker (100 or 120 Hz, twice the line frequency)
associated with fluorescent lighting .
 The lamps actually operate at about 9% higher efficacy
above approximately 10 kHz

Because of the high frequency of operation, electronic
ballasts are generally smaller, lighter, and more
efficient (and thus run cooler) than line frequency
magnetic ballasts

 Electronic ballasts are often based on the SMPS

topology, first rectifying the input power and then
chopping it at a high frequency. Advanced electronic
ballasts may allow dimming via pulse-width
modulation
 Why all the Hype about
Electronic Ballasts?
 Higher light output than electromagnetic ballasts
at the same power input level .
 Electronic ballast manufacturers have developed
a variety of ballast types for the various available
lamps .
 The familiar “hum” of electromagnetic ballasts
has all but been eliminated .
 Color rendering has improved .
 Lamp flicker has been greatly reduced .
 Further energy savings can be realized by
reducing the heating load on the system.
How Do Bulbs Work?
 The modern light bulb,
which hasn't changed
drastically since
Edison's model, is
made up of only a
handful of parts.
 Light is a form of
energy that can be
released by an atom. It
is made up of many
small particle-like
packets that have
energy and momentum
but no mass. Called
photons.
 At the base, they have two
metal contacts
 The metal contacts are
attached to two stiff wires,
attached to a thin metal
filament
 The filament sits in the
middle of the bulb, held up
by a glass mount.
 The wires and the filament
are housed in a glass bulb,
which is filled with an inert
gas, such as Argon.
 The bulb is hooked up to a power supply
 An electric current flows from one contact to the other
 As the electrons zip along through the filament, they
are constantly bumping into the atoms that make up
the filament.
 The energy of each impact vibrates an atom -- in other
words, the current heats the atoms up.
 Bound electrons in the vibrating atoms may be
boosted temporarily to a higher energy level. When
they fall back to their normal levels, the electrons
release the extra energy in the form of photons.
 The filament in a light bulb is made of a long,
incredibly thin length of tungsten metal.
 Necessity For Current
Limiting
 Ballasts are most commonly needed when an
electrical circuit or device presents a negative
(differential) resistance to the supply.
 If such a device were connected to a constant-voltage
power supply, it would draw an ever-increasing
amount of current until it was destroyed or caused the
power supply to fail. To prevent this, a ballast provides
a positive resistance or reactance that limits the
ultimate flow of current to an appropriate level. In this
way, the 'ballast' provides for the proper operation of
the negative resistance device.
 Examples of such negative-resistance devices are gas
discharge tubes and lamps.
 Starting of an Electronic
Ballast
 Electronic Ballasts use three
methods of starting:
 instant start, rapid start, and
programmed start. The first
two methods also are
available in electromagnetic
ballasts, while the last one is
offered only by electronic
ballasts. 

Playing with an Electronic Ballast

 Instant start provides the most energy-efficient
operation for T8 lamps and should be used in
applications where the lamps will operate more than
three hours per start. 
 Rapid start ballasts are intended to prolong
lamp life, with a 15% to 25% increase in switch cycles
before failure, depending on individual ballast design. 
 Programmed start ballasts are best suited
for applications where the lamps will operate less than
three hours per start and offer an increase in switch
cycles before failure of 100% or more over the rapid
start ballasts.
 Electro-Magnetic Ballast
 Electromagnetic ballasts limit the flow of
current to the light but do not change the
frequency of the input power. The lamp
then illuminates on each half-cycle of the
power source. This is why many
fluorescent and neon lights visibly flicker.
Since the light illuminates on half-cycles,
the rate of flicker is twice the frequency of
the power source, meaning the light will
flicker at 100Hz or 120Hz. A lead-lag
lighting ballast can minimize flicker when
connected to two lamps by alternating the
flow of current to them: one leading the
frequency of the input power and the other
lagging behind it.
 Comparing Electronic and
Electromagnetic Ballasts
MAGNETIC ELECTRONIC
•Mean Lumens
Core & Coil Electronic, Good lighting systems are
microprocessor specified on the basis of mean
Rated Lamp Life Rated Lamp Life or average light output of the
20,000 hours 20,000 hours lamp. This mean is defined as
the light output, measured in
lumens, at 40% of the lamps
Mean Calculated @ Mean Calculated @ rated life.
40% of rated lamp 40% of rated lamp
•Cost of Ownership - Long
life life
Term Savings*
8,000 hours 8,000 hours
While the initial cost of a
magnetic ballast is considerably
Lumen Maintenance Lumen Maintenance less than a high performance
(Output @ Mean) (Output @ Mean) electronic ballast, the over-all
64% of initial 86% of initial cost of ownership is much
lumens lumens higher.
MAGNETIC ELECTRONIC

Installing more fixtures means... Install up to 36% fewer FUTURE

Higher installation labor BRITES
Higher material costs Achieve the same light levels
Higher energy costs Lower cost of ownership
Few Examples….

HPF ELECTRONIC BALLAST

Self-Oscillating Dimmable Electronic Ballast
FAQ:-
 Flicker And Stroboscopic Effect
 The mercury arc in a fluorescent
lamp operated on a 60 hertz
alternating current goes on and off
120 times per second. The light from
the lamp would go out completely
except that the phosphors have
some phosphorescent or "carry-over"
action. That is, they continue to glow
for a short time after the existing
radiation is cut off.
 This variation in light output is
known as flicker. The flicker rate over
the length of the lamp is 120 cycles
per second. At the ends of the lamp,
each alternate flash is comparatively
weak. This gives an effective rate of
60 flashes per second.
 The 120-cycle flicker is too fast to be visible. The 60-
cycle flicker can be detected, but only by the
periphery of the retina. For this reason, lamp flicker is
seldom noticed except when observing the ends of the
lamps out of the corner of the eyes or related
equipment.
 Presented by:
Siddharth Chauhan
061401
ELECTRICAL