MB High Pressure Mercury Vapour

Updated
21-VII-2006
Mercury Vapour lamps operating at high pressure (but below 100 watts per centimetre of arc length) and with arc tubes of quartz glass are classified as the MB style. Mercury vapour pressure is typically around ten atmospheres. The reason for the creation of this second category of mercury lamp was to allow the efficacy to be maintained as high as possible for low wattage sources.

The luminous efficacy of any discharge lamp falls as wattage is reduced - the reason being because electrode power loss becomes relatively more significant for the smaller lamps. Hence it was not possible to make an MA style lamp below 150W because it could not compete with filament lamps. However if the mercury vapour pressure is increased, luminous efficacy also rises. This was not possible with MA lamps because the arc tube would melt at the higher temperatures which are required to bring about the pressure increase.

Quartz glass having a very high softening temperature was necessary to make the low wattage mercury lamp feasible. Quartz is not an easy material to use though. Its coefficient of thermal expansion is so low that no metal wire can be sealed through it directly. The solution came from the work of D. Gabor at the BTH Mazda research laboratory in Rugby, who invented the molybdenum foil seal and adapted it for mechanised production. Moly foil of very thin cross-section expands so little that the quartz barely knows it's there. The edges of the foil are feathered, either by rolling or etching, and these knife edges can deform and bury themselves in the quartz as they expand, without cracking it.

In 1937 a 125W Quartz MB lamp was launched, quickly followed by the 80W version. The 250, 400 and 1000W lamps continued to be made with MA-style aluminosilicate hard glass arc tubes until the late 1950's though on account of the very large price penalty that quartz carried with it in the early days. Thereafter, as the price of improved electrically-fused quartz began to fall, it was adopted in the larger ratings also.

Uncoated Lamps

GE

85W
H-3 early model with graded seals to tungsten
1939

GE

250W
H-5 early model with graded seals to tungsten
1943

Mazda

80W
MB/V first model with moly shrink-seals
1947

Crompton

80W
MB/U in pear shaped pearl bulb
c. 1955

GEC

125W
MB/U in pear shaped pearl bulb
1978

Mazda

125W
MB/U in ellipsoidal shaped pearl bulb
1969

Sylvania

40W
H45-AZ Low Wattage Mercury Discharge
c. 1965

Osram

125W
HQA with new emitter to reduced blackening
1965

Narva

125W
NF125-00 with sintered emitter pellet electrodes
1972

GE

100W
H100/A23 for retrofit into GLS luminaires
1995

Philips

400W
MB/V Long tubular style to replace MA size lamp
1964

Atlas

400W
MB/V Long tubular style to replace MA size lamp
1970

GEC

250W
MB/U short tubular style for new applications
1974

Sylvania

400W
H33-1CD Rough Service lamp with girder frame
1968

Iwasaki

2000W
H2000B High Wattage
1997

Fluorescent Lamps

Philips

75W
Philora HPL300 with Sulphide phosphor
1937

GEC

125W
MBF/V with Magnesium Fluoro-germanate
1961

Sylvania

100W
H100/C with Magnesium Fluoro-germanate
1961

Narva

400W
HQL-G Goldweiß with Mg Fluoro-germanate
1971

Philips

250W
HPL with Magnesium Fluoro-arsenate
1965

GE

175W
Bonus Line H175-39/W Impregnated electrodes
1963

Narva

250W
HQL-S Silberweiß with orthphosphate coating
1969

Radium

400W
HQL-S Silberweiß with orthphosphate coating
1969

Westinghouse

400W
H400/W with strontium
1968

Tesla

125W
RVL-B with calcium halophsophate coating
1971

Sylvania

175W
H175/DX with Yttrium Vanadate coating
1979

GEC

1000W
MBF/U with Yttrium Vanadate coating
1977

Westinghouse

100W
H100/DX with Yttrium Phosphate Vanadate
1983

Toshiba

200W
HFX 200 Japanese style fluorescent mercury
1990

Polam

125W
LRF with Vanadate and Orthophosphate coating
1976

Westinghouse

400W
H400/R Beauty Lite with high red ratio
1982

Philips

400W
HPL Deluxe with Coarse Grain Vanadate coating
1983

Philips

80W
HPL Comfort with YAG + yttrium vanadate coating
1993

Sylvania

100W
H100/N Warmtone YAG+ yttrium vanadate coating
1982

Osram

50W
HQL-B Super Deluxe
1993

Westinghouse

400W
H400/Y" Caution Yellow" with external lacquer
1969

Osram

250W
HQL/5" Caution Yellow" with external lacquer
c. 1965

Thorn

125W
MBF half coated demonstration lamp
1986

DuroTest

175W
Safe-T-Vapor lamp with internal oxygen fuse
c. 1980

Westinghouse

400W
Safety Lifeguard with internal cut-out device
1981
       

Reflector Lamps

Iwasaki

50W
HR50W/S Mercury Spot Reflector Lamp
2001

GEC

125W
MBFR/U Mercury Fluorescent Reflector
1972

Thorn

400W
MBFR/U Mercury Fluorescent Reflector
1988

Narva

125W
NF125-21 Street lighting style mercury reflector
1979

Sylvania

100W
H44GS-100 Mercury Sealed Beam Reflector
2003
   

Self-Ballasted Lamps

Mazda

200W
MBT/V with shrink seals and pearl outer bulb
c. 1945

Osram

165W
HWA 302 German lamp in usual pearl bulb
1958

Philips

250W
ML500 First model mercury blended
c. 1947

Bumix

860W
"Jupiter" variable colour mushroom-shape lamp
c. 1950

Philips

160W
MBTL with Magnesium fluorogermanate coating
1960

Atlas

250W
MBTF with Yttrium Vanadate coated bulb
1970

Osram

500W
HWL with isothermal bulb shape
1974?

GE

160W
E-Z Lux HSB160/PS30/M low voltage design
c. 1980

DuroTest

450W
Fluomeric with special high efficiency design
1970/78

National

100W
BH100 with preheated arc tube electrodes
2001

Thorn

160W
MBT Sunlight Clear mercury blended lamp
1987

Philips

160W
ML with new design for automatic production
2003

XingJi

500W
HMB Halogen-Ballasted Mercury Vapour
2003

Philips

160W
MLR mercury blended reflector style
1984
   

Special Application & Ultra-Violet

GEC

80W
MB/D Projector lamp with handmade arctube
1942

Mazda

80W
MB/D for monochrome slide projection
1962

Mazda

125W
MBL/D with diaphragms for laboratory use
1967

Philips

125W
HPK 125 for laboratory use
1975

Mazda

40W
MBM Coal Mine lamp for compressed air system
1950

GE-Thorn

5kW
MB high wattage photo-printing lamp
1991

Philips

125W
HPR Reflector lamp for reprographic application
1984

GE

100W
S-4 Sun tanning lamp with graded seals
1940

Osram

300W
Ultra-Vitalux sun tanning lamp in round bulb
c. 1955

Wotan

300W
Ultra-Vitalux sun tanning lamp in reflector bulb
c. 1960

Philips

300W
MLU Sun tanning reflector style lamp
1968

GE

100W
H4-BL Purple-X mercury vapour blacklight
1970

Osram

80W
HQV mercury discharge with Woods Glass bulb
1964

Thorn

125W
MBW Black Magic with Woods Glass bulb
1974

Philips

125W
HPW mercury discharge with Woods Glass bulb
1985

Iwasaki

400W
H400BL High Wattage Blacklight lamp
1994