Industry Applications
Low-pressure high-intensity UV lamps (amalgam lamps) are low-pressure mercury lamps. They use mercury amalgam technology. Under low-pressure gas discharge, they produce nearly monochromatic UV light at 253.7 nm (254 nm UVC).
Lamp light generation
The lamp tube is filled with argon gas and mercury amalgam. When powered on, electric discharge excites mercury atoms. When excited mercury atoms return to ground state, photons at 254 nm are released.
Compared with standard low-pressure UV lamps, amalgam stabilizes mercury vapor pressure, delivering much higher UV intensity under higher power while keeping high electro-optical conversion efficiency. The lamp is sealed inside a high-transmittance quartz sleeve to separate water and transmit UVC.
Microorganism inactivation mechanism
Water flows into the stainless steel reactor and gets irradiated by 254 nm UV. UVC photons penetrate cell walls of bacteria and viruses, absorbed by DNA/RNA. It forms cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs), breaking nucleic acid chains. Pathogens lose replication ability and become inactivated.
Disinfection performance depends on UV dose (Dose = UV intensity × hydraulic retention time, unit: mJ/cm²). Swimming pool systems are commonly designed at 40 mJ/cm².
Flow-through working process (swimming pool type)
Pool circulating water enters UV reactor chamber
Water passes around UV lamps and receives UV irradiation
254 nm UV inactivates suspended microorganisms
Treated water flows back to swimming pool
Features: Pure physical disinfection, no chemical dosing, no DBPs. No residual disinfection effect. It works only inside the reactor. It serves as secondary disinfection for swimming pools and can reduce monochloramine to relieve chlorine odor.
