Optical Characteristics Impact Factor Assessment for Emergency Lights
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 30, Issue 5
Abstract
This study conducted candlepower distribution tests to analyze the characteristics of emergency lighting. The spatial luminous intensity distribution of light intensity lamps was obtained. The experimental results for groups of samples were compared, including lighting structure, light specifications, installation, and input voltage as well as other factors affecting the optical characteristics of the lights. This study found that the impact on the surface level of illumination using different mounting directions varies greatly, with top inlay models performing better than wall-mounted lighting fixtures. A wall-mounted luminaire mounting height of 2.5 m did not meet the standards of the ground-level luminance values specified earlier. In addition, the study found significant differences between the emergency light’s stated power consumption and its actual power consumption at nominal power; however, the stated nominal power consumption of most commercially available emergency lighting is less than half of the actual consumption, and the total flux is only around of the stated value. This significant gap causes the current design of emergency lighting to be a mere formality, because the lights are unable to provide the basic lighting required for emergency evacuations. This may also cause casualties during evacuations due to equipment failure.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors are indebted to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST-104-2221-E-261-002) of Taiwan, Republic of China, and the Chinese Fire Protection Safety Center for their financial support.
References
Alonso, J. M., Villegas, P. J., Diaz, J., and Blanco, C. A. (1997). “Microcontroller-based emergency ballast for fluorescent lamps.” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., 44(2), 207–216.
Ardeshir, M., and Sokol, D. (2011). “A comparison of luminous efficacy models based on data from Vienna, Austria.” Build. Simul., 4(3), 183–188.
DIALux evo 4.12 [Computer software]. DIAL, Lüdenscheid, Germany.
Linera, F. F., Diaz, J., Garcia, M. A. P., and Soriano, A. G. (1994). “Design of an ASIC with CMOS 1.5μES2 technology for emergency lighting systems with fluorescent lamp.” Proc., 3rd Int. Power Electronics Congress, IEEE, New York, 56–61.
Muraro, T. R., de Paiva, R. C. D., and do Prado, R. N. (2005). “Push–pull self-oscillating electronic ballast for battery application.” Conf. Record IEEE IAS Annual Meeting, Vol. 4, IEEE, New York, 2330–2334.
Prado, R. N., and Bonafldo, S. A. (1999). “A high-power-factor electronic ballast using a flyback push–pull integrated converter.” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron, 46(4), 796–802.
Silva, M. M., Simoes, A. S., and Anunciada, A. V. (1993). “A simple converter for DC-supply of fluorescent lamps.” Proc., 5th European Conf. Power Electron, IEEE, New York, 227–231.
Wu, Y. C., and Chen, Y. K. (2009). “A three-in-one converter for regular and emergency lighting applications.” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., 45(1), 108–115.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 30 • Issue 5 • October 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 8, 2015
Accepted: Oct 26, 2015
Published online: Jan 20, 2016
Discussion open until: Jun 20, 2016
Published in print: Oct 1, 2016
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.