Experimental Performance Analysis of Electronic and Magnetic Ballasts for Fluorescent Lamps

In this paper, the disadvantages of the electromagnetic ballasts (EMB) are discussed and approved by experimental results. Although this type of ballast is used widely for driving the fluorescent lamps (FL) in Iran, it has many harmful effects on the power network and other nearby appliances. Moreover, EMBs are not dimmable, which in turn makes them less effective for powersaving purposes. Total harmonic distortion (THD) and power factor (PF) associated with typical EMBs are compared with those of the electronic ballasts (EB). The effects of using a capacitor for PF correction in the case of EMB on power quality are experimentally analyzed. Laboratorial tests regarding the energy consumption have been done in three cases including the application of EMB, nondimmable EB and dimmable EB. The results show that the power consumption is unacceptably high in the case of EMB. Light quality of FLs driven by different types of ballasts is also measured and compared. It is finally concluded that replacing the EMBs with dimmable EBs has an impressive impact on power quality and consumption, which would be of interest for the power system operators.

کلیدواژه ها:

Electronic Ballast ، Electromagnetic Ballast ، Fluorescent Lamps ، Power Quality