Mercury-arc rectifier facts for kids
A Mercury-arc rectifier is a type of rectifier used for converting alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). The cathode is made from a pool of liquid mercury. Mercury-arc rectifiers were rugged and durable. They could carry higher currents than most other types of rectifier.
The mercury-arc rectifier was invented in 1902 by Peter Cooper Hewitt. They were used to provide power for industrial electric motors, electric railways, trams, and electric locomotives. Other uses included radio transmitters and high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission. They were the primary method of high power rectification before the advent of solid-state electronics in the 1970s. The solid-state rectifier has since replaced the mercury-arc rectifier.
Images for kids
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Mercury rectifier on display in the Beromünster AM transmitter in Switzerland, before being decommissioned. Three-phase full-wave rectifier with six anodes.
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One of the first mercury arc bulbs built by Cooper Hewitt
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Glass-bulb mercury-arc rectifier from the 1940s
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Mercury arc valves of ASEA design, with four anode columns in parallel, in the HVDC Inter-Island scheme in New Zealand.
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A 150-kilovolt, 1800 amp mercury-arc valve at Manitoba Hydro's Radisson converter station, August 2003
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An experimental mercury arc amplifier for use on long-distance telephone circuits. It was never commercially used after the development of the audion tube.
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