System for experimental investigation of DBD excilamps in view of control and optimization of UV emission

This paper presents the design of a system aimed at characterizing a diverse set of dielectric barrier discharge UV lamps. This experimental bench allows the study of the lamps performances regarding UV emission maximization and energy conversion optimization. It includes a current-mode pulsed power supply for the lamps, the design of which is detailed. This converter presents 3 degrees of freedom (DOF) can control and adjust independently the frequency, amplitude and duration of the current pulses injected into the lamps. Theoretical modeling of the lamps, by means of equivalent electrical circuits, is used to define the most interesting operating points to be explored, as well as for the converter's design; these models are afterwards validated by experimental tests on the entire set of lamps. The operation of the bench is controlled by a supervising program: the latter manages the data acquisition and performs sweeps of the DOFs of the pulsed current. Examples of analyzes, oriented toward optimization of electric to UV energy conversion, are shown.