Lamp technology

Medium-pressure (MP) UV lamp

MP UV lamps spectrum

A medium-pressure (MP) UV lamp has some important differences compared to the more well known low-pressure (LP) UV lamps. These differences are major reasons to select UV systems with medium-pressure lamps:

  • high power
  • energy efficiency
  • compact size
  • reduce quantity needed in a UV reactor
  • broad range of wavelengths (200 – 400nm)
  • photobiological effects

Some applications may require the use of medium-pressure UV lamps because they emit a broader range of wavelengths. Such applications include:

  • dechloramination in public swimming pools (reduction of all chloramines, mono-, di- and trichloramines, only reached by the emission of wavelengths between 200 and 400nm.

Two other important reasons to use medium-pressure UV lamp technology is:

  • to reduce the footprint of the installation, as high-powered medium-pressure lamps greatly reduce the size of a UV reactor.
  • to reduce the quantity of UV lamps because medium-pressure UV lamps have higher power fewer are required compared to a low-pressure UV lamp systems.

Low-pressure (LP) UV lamp

LP UV lamps spectrum

Low-pressure (LP) UV lamps have some important differences compared to medium-pressure (MP) UV lamps:

  • low power 
  • efficiency
  • larger size
  • greater quantity needed in a UV reactor
  • limited range of wavelengths (254nm) emitted

Some applications use of low-pressure UV lamps, mainly because of:

  • low capacity (single UV lamp)
  • frequent STOP and GO operations

Two other important reasons to use low-pressure UV lamp technology are:

  • high efficiency of the lamp, up to 40% of the power converts to germicidal energy,
  • specific 254 nm wavelengths, well known for disinfection purposes.

Contact the ‘experts in ultraviolet light’ for selection of the right lamp technology in bestUV systems in new or existing situations.