MC Low Pressure Mercury Vapour

Updated
24-IV-2005
Mercury Vapour lamps operating at low pressure and with arc tubes of soft glass are classified as the MC style. Mercury vapour pressure is typically just a few hundredths of an atmosphere, never more than one atmosphere in this class. The discharge generally dissipates fewer than 10 watts per centimetre of arc length.

The MC class of lamp was specifically created for linear fluorescent tube technology. In this application, it is desirable for the discharge to radiate as much energy as possible in the ultra-violet part of the spectrum and very little in the visible region. A phosphor coating on the tube wall then serves to convert the UV into visible light of a much better quality than the blue-green colour light produced by the high pressure mercury discharge.

Because of the great number of fluorescent coated lamps in the MC class, these are listed elsewhere on this site under the Fluorescent category. There are a number of uncoated MC style lamps for special applications though where the UV radiation they produce is desirable. Such lamps are catalogued under this page.

Osram

10W

HNS 10W/U OFR U-Tube Germicidal Ozone Free
Circa 1970

Philips

6W

TUV Germicidal lamp with internal resistance
1992

Philips

6W

TW Blacklight lamp with internal resistance
1983

GE

400W

S-1 Ultraviolet Sunlamp, Thermionic discharge
c. 1950

GE

85W

S-2 Ultraviolet Sunlamp, Thermionic discharge
1939

GE

4W

G4S11 Ozone Producing Thermionic discharge
1959

Thorn

4W

M2 miniature ultraviolet source
1963