MB High Pressure Mercury Vapour

Updated
19-XI-2022
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. It was not feasible to make an MA style lamp below about 150W because its efficacy dropped so much that it could no longer compete with filament lamps. However if the mercury vapour pressure and power loading 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 present at higher power loading.

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. One solution came from the work of Denis Gabor at German Osram and later BTH, who invented the molybdenum foil seal. 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. An alternative seal based on a stack of glasses having graded expansion coefficients was developed by Cornelis Bol at Philips, but was ultimately superseded by the foil seal.

Following the development of these seals, the first high pressure quartz mercury lamps were marketed in 1936 by Philips. The higher wattage MA lamps continued to be made with aluminosilicate arc tubes until the late 1950's on account of the large price penalty that quartz carried with it in the early days, and that an increase in their power loading did not bring such a large advantage as for the low wattages. Eventually though once the price of quartz had fallen sufficiently, and means had been developed for mechanising the seal production, the MB lamp completely superseded the former MA range.

Uncoated Lamps

GE

85W

H-3 early model with graded seals to tungsten
1937

GE-Mazda

100W

H-4 early model with graded seals to tungsten
1938

GE-Mazda

250W

H-5 early model with graded seals to tungsten
1943

GEC

125W

Osira MB/V first model with moly shrink-seals
1944

Siemens

125W

Sieray Type QH with Siemens Foil Seals
1944

Mazda

80W

MB/V with earliest mechanised seal design
1947

Mazda

80W

MB/V first model with moly shrink-seals
1947

Crompton

80W

MB/U in pear shaped pearl bulb
~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
~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
1979

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 - Sulphide

Philips

75W

Philora HPL300 with Sulphide phosphor
1938
       

Fluorescent Lamps - Germanate / Arsenate

GEC

125W

MBF/V with Magnesium Fluoro-germanate
1961

Sylvania

100W

H100/C with Magnesium Fluoro-germanate
1961

Philips

250W

HPL with Magnesium Arsenate
1965

Narva

400W

HQL-G Goldweiss with Mg Fluoro-germanate
1971

Osram

50W

HQL half coated demonstration lamp
1964
   

Fluorescent Lamps - Orthophosphate

GE

175W

Bonus Line H175-39/W Impregnated electrodes
1963

Westinghouse

400W

H400/W with strontium zinc orthophosphate
1968

Narva

250W

HQL-S Silberweiss with orthphosphate coating
1969

Osram

400W

HQL-S Silberweiss with orthphosphate coating
1969
       

Fluorescent Lamps - Halophosphate

Tesla

125W

RVL-B with calcium halophsophate coating
1971
       

Fluorescent Lamps - Vanadate

Polam

125W

LRF with Vanadate and Orthophosphate coating
1976

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

DuroTest

175W

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

Westinghouse

400W

Safety Lifeguard with internal cut-out device
1981

Thorn

125W

MBF half coated demonstration lamp
1986
   

Fluorescent Lamps - Warm and Deluxe Colours

Sylvania

400W

H33-1-GL/WDX Warm Deluxe colour
1973

Sylvania

100W

H100/N Warmtone with Vanadate + YAG + dye
1982

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 Coarse Vanadate + YAG coating
1993

Osram

50W

HQL-B Super Deluxe with Vanadate + Gold Laquer
1993

Fluorescent Lamps - Yellow

Westinghouse

400W

H400/Y Caution Yellow with external lacquer
1969

Osram

250W

HQL/5 Caution Yellow with external lacquer
~1965
   

Reflector Lamps

Philips

125W

HPLR E40 Cap Reflector with Arsenate Phosphor
1969

GEC

125W

MBFR/U Mercury with Ellipsoidal Reflector
1977

Thorn

400W

MBFR/U Mercury Fluorescent Reflector
1988

Iwasaki

50W

HR50W/S Mercury Spot Reflector Lamp
2001

Sylvania

100W

H44GS-100 Mercury Sealed Beam Reflector
2003

Meda

250W

HML250-PR Side Reflector Streetlighting
c. 1960s

Narva

125W

NF125-21 Street lighting with ellipsoidal reflector
1979

Philips

400W

HLRG Horticultural with ellipsoidal reflector
1975

SELZ

400W

DRLF400-1 Horticultural with ellipsoidal reflector
1983

Self-Ballasted Lamps

Mazda

200W

MBT/V with shrink seals and pearl outer bulb
~1945

Philips

250W

ML500 First model mercury blended
~1940-45

Osram

165W

HWA 302 German lamp in pearl outer bulb
1958

Bumix

860W

"Jupiter" variable colour mushroom-shape
~1950

Philips

160W

ML Mixed Light Clear pear-shaped
~1955

Thorn

160W

MBT Sunlight Clear mercury blended
1987

Philips

160W

ML with new design for automatic production
2003

National

100W

BH100 with preheated arc tube electrodes
2001

DuroTest

750W

Self-Ballasted Lamp of high efficiency design
~1960

XingJi

500W

HMB Halogen-Ballasted Mercury Vapour
2003

Philips

160W

MBTL with Magnesium fluoro-germanate
1960

Atlas

250W

MBTF with Yttrium Vanadate coated bulb
1970

Osram

500W

HWL with isothermal bulb shape
1974?

GE

160W

E-Z Lux low voltage HSB160/PS30/M
~1980

DuroTest

450W

Fluomeric with special high efficiency design
1970/78

Philips

160W

MLR mercury blended reflector style
1984
       

Ultraviolet Erythemal

GE

100W

S-4 Sunlamp with Graded Glass Seals
1940

Osram

300W

Ultra-Vitalux Sunlamp Blended Round
1941

Osram

300W

Ultra-Vitalux Sunlamp Blended Reflector
1957

GE

275W

RS Sunlamp Blended Reflector
1947

Sylvania

275W

RS Sunlamp Blended Reflector
1966

Philips

500W

Biosol MLU Sunlamp Blended Reflector
1953

Philips

300W

Ultraphil MLU Sunlamp Blended Reflector
1968
       

Ultraviolet Actinic

Philips

125W

HPR Actinic Printing in Reflector Bulb
1984

GE-Thorn

5kW

MB high wattage photo-printing lamp
1991
   

Ultraviolet Blacklight

GE

100W

H100-BL4 Purple-X Blacklight Woods Glass
1971

Osram

80W

HQV Blacklight Woods Glass
1964

Thorn

125W

MBW Blacklight Woods Glass
1974

Philips

125W

HPW Blacklight Woods Glass
1985

Philips

125W

HPW-TS Blacklight with UV-A Phosphor
1991

Iwasaki

400W

H400BL Blacklight Woods Glass
1994

SELZ

125W

DRUFZ 125-1 Blacklight Woods Glass Reflector
1983
       

Projection & Special Application

GEC

80W

MB/D Projector lamp with handmade arctube
1942

GE

85W

H85A3/UV Lab-Arc Ultraviolet Source
1952

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