Certain salts impregnated in the carbons produced a brilliantly luminous flame in the arc stream which enormously increased the efficiency of the lamp.
Enclosed Flame Arc Lamp, 1908.
By condensing the smoke from the arc in a cooling chamber it was practical to enclose the flame arc, thereby increasing the life of the carbons.
The reason for the big difference in efficiency between the series and multiple direct-current arc is that in the latter a large amount of electrical energy (watts) is lost in the ballast resistance. While there is a considerable difference between the inherent efficiencies of the D. C. and A. C. arcs themselves, this difference is reduced in the multiple D. C. and A. C. arc lamps as more watts are lost in the resistance ballast of the multiple D. C. lamp than are lost in the reactance ballast of the multiple A. C. lamp.
This reactance gives the A. C. lamp what is called a “power-factor.” The product of the amperes (7.5) times the volts (110) does not give the true wattage (540) of the lamp, so that the actual volt-amperes (825) has to be multiplied by a power factor, in this case about 65 per cent, to obtain the actual power (watts) consumed. The reason is that the instantaneous varying values of the alternating current and pressure, if multiplied and averaged throughout the complete alternating cycle, do not equal the average amperes (measured by an ammeter) multiplied by the average voltage (measured by a volt-meter). That is, the maximum value of the current flowing (amperes) does not occur at the same instant that the maximum pressure (voltage) is on the circuit.
THE FLAME ARC LAMP
About 1844 Bunsen investigated the effect of introducing various chemicals in the carbon arc. Nothing was done, however, until Bremer, a German, experimented with various salts impregnated in the carbon electrodes. In 1898 he produced the so-called flame arc, which consisted of carbons impregnated with calcium fluoride. This gave a brilliant yellow light most of which came from the arc flame, and practically none from the carbon tips. The arc operated in the open air and produced smoke which condensed into a white powder.
The two carbons were inclined downward at about a 30-degree angle with each other, and were of small diameter but long, 18 to 30 inches, having a life of about 12 to 15 hours. The tips of the carbons projected through an inverted earthenware cup, called the “economizer,” the white powder condensing on this and acting not only as an excellent reflector but making a dead air space above the arc. The arc was maintained at the tips of the carbons by an electro-magnet whose magnetic field “blew” the arc down.
Two flame arc lamps were burned in series on 110-volt circuits. They consumed 550 watts each, giving an efficiency of about 35 lumens per watt on direct current. On alternating current the efficiency was about 30 l-p-w. By use of barium salts impregnated in the carbons, a white light was obtained, giving an efficiency of about 18 l-p-w on direct current and about 15½ on alternating current. These figures cover lamps equipped with clear glassware. Using strontium salts in the carbons, a red light was obtained at a considerably lower efficiency, such arcs on account of their color being used only to a limited extent for advertising purposes.