Fluorescent lamp discharge models-critical issues

Summary form only given. This talk is a review of several fluorescent lamp positive column models available to us. We will briefly describe the underlying physics associated with each model. The models are then applied to standard fluorescent lamp conditions where good agreement between models and experimental data will be shown. However, for conditions applicable to small diameter fluorescent lamps, serious disagreement between the various models was encountered. In addition, problems with numerical convergence become more severe under these conditions. Included is an analysis of the numerical techniques used in these models, and a comparison with earlier positive column models. Suggestions are made for changes in the numerical algorithms to improve the numerical robustness. To bring better agreement between model and experimental results for narrow diameter fluorescent lamps required some additional physics that were ignored in all the models surveyed.