Shortwave IR Lamps for Industrial Infrared Heating
ATD shortwave IR emitters (including T3 lamps & T4 lamps) utilize a low mass tungsten filament to provide a high temperature source that responds rapidly to voltage changes— allowing for precise control during your industrial infrared heating process.
These quartz tube lamps are hermetically sealed and filled with an inert halogen gas, which helps prolong the life of the filmament.
​
The shortwave IR emitters are available with a white ceramic or gold reflector coating on the back of the lamp to make them unidirectional. Non-glare, Ruby Red, HeLen coatings, and satin coated quartz lamps are available for filtering out most of the high intensity visible light.
​
The sealed areas on both ends of a shortwave lamp consist of a flat molybdenum strip that is welded to the tungsten wire and the base cap lead wire or other termination and pinched closed air tight. Several ceramic and metal base caps are available:
​
The end seal area must be kept below 350°C (662 F) to prevent lamp failure. To prolong lamp life due to the high temperature of the filament (up to 2400° - 4350° F), it is advised to isolate the seal area and/or provide an air stream to cool the area. The lamp leads can be bare nickel wire, fiberglass insulated or PTFE high temperature insulated.
​
To learn more about Shortwave IR Lamps, please get in touch with someone from our team. We would love to utilize our decades of experience in industrial infrared heating to help you find the right infrared heating solution for your process.
Find Your IR Solution:
Specifications for Shortwave IR Emitters
Shortwave IR Emitter Features
1. Rapid Response
ATD lamps heat up and cool down instantly in response to changes in applied voltage. They radiate 90 percent of the available radiant energy in less than one second after being turned on. By comparison, long-wavelength infrared emitters must be energized for several minutes before they reach the same relative output. Similarly, the short-wavelength infrared emitter in the lamps cools down much faster than a long-wavelength infrared emitter. This is in part due to the greater thermal mass of long-wavelength emitters.
​
2. Tungsten Wire Filament
The high-density infrared energy is produced by a tungsten wire filament in the lamp. The filament is supported by tungsten wire ring anchors, tantalum disks, or through deflection winding of the filament to create the support from the filament itself. The supports prevent the filament from coming into contact with the quartz lamp envelope and causing the lamp to fail.
​
3. Atmosphere
The inert atmosphere in the quartz glass envelope protects the tungsten wire filament from oxidation.
​
4. Quartz Glass Envelope
All T3 lamps have a diameter of 3/8 inch, while T4 lamps have a diameter of ½ inch. Lamps are available in various lengths and wattages, and in clear or translucent quartz glass envelopes. Translucent lamps are used for reduced glare requirements. The exterior of the quartz glass envelope must be cleaned before voltage is applied to the lamp. Any residue or salty deposit (perspiration) on the envelope will absorb energy or react with the quartz and cause premature lamp failure.
​
5. Optional Coating
Applying a special coating to the envelope improves radiation at required wavelengths and raises energy efficiency. Black Coating (High-efficiency far-infrared radiation) enables a lamp to radiate nearly 100% of its energy in the visible spectrum, or convert between 70% and 80% of its energy from the near-infrared region to the far-infrared region. This far-infrared output is two to three times that of conventional halogen heater. A White Reflective Coating (stronger radiation in a fixed direction) applied to half the lamp envelope, will radiate energy in a highly efficient manner in a specific direction. This type of coating eliminates the need for reflective mirrors and other optical devices, making it a space-saving, low-cost alternative.
​
6. Electrical Connections
In most cases, connections to supply electricity to the tungsten wire filament are made through flexible pigtail leads. Button contacts and screw bases are also used on some lamps to make this connection. Lamps with end leads should be installed so the leads have a small amount of slack to allow for thermal expansion during operation. This will eliminate lamp failure caused by rigid leads transferring this expansion to the quartz glass envelope.
​
7. End Seals
Standard end seals are limited to a temperature of approximately 662°F (350°C). Operating lamps at temperatures above this level leads to oxidation, overheating, and eventual burnout. Cooling for lamp end seals is provided on some heaters to increase the times and temperatures at which they can be operated, and to extend lamp life. End seals are available in metallic and ceramic versions. The metallic end seals have un-insulated leads, while the ceramic end seals have insulated leads. The ceramic end seal serves to protect the joint of each lamp lead to the lamp emitter filament and the insulated leads are electrically isolated.
​
8. Lamp Orientation
Some lamps are intended to be operated in a horizontal position so that the filament is supported equally along its length. Shorter lamps can be operated in a vertical position because the filament will not sag and stress its upper section with its weight. Special vertical-burn lamps are available in longer lengths that have indentations in the quartz envelope that support individual filament spacers and prevent the filament from sagging when the lamps are operated vertically.