Calculation of Net Emission Coefficient for High Intensity Discharge Lamps

Abstract

There is still great interest in studying high intensity discharge (HID) lamps despite the great development of other light sources like light emitting diodes (LEDs). Basic equations and numerical formulations allow calculating important terms such as the net emission coefficient (NEC) that plays an important role in understanding the radiation behaviour of these lamps. These lamps are considered to be at high pressure and the produced plasma was found to be at local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). The volume of the lamp is meshed into small cells and the total number of cells represents a compromise between correct results and calculation time. Each cell has its own local absorption and emission coefficient that applies to its position in the discharge. Line profile is calculated by two profiles convolution: one is Lorentz’s and the second one is a quasi-static profile. Ray tracing technique is used to resolve the radiation transport for the visible and ultra violet (UV) spectrum. The NEC is thus calculated and compared with other models for a pure mercury discharge. In addition, additional photometric properties of the lamp are obtained.