Glass-Bulb Mercury-Arc Rectifiers for Traction Service

The paper gives a general survey of the ability of glass bulb mercury-arc rectifiers to satisfactorily meet the stringent requirements of traction service. The subject matter is arranged on the assumption that engineers of the United States and Canada are not familiar with the use of this type of equipment for traction work, and the author has approached the subject from the point of view of an engineer considering the merits of different types of conversion equipment. Major features pertaining directly to glass bulbs are discussed such as plant capacity, maintenance, efficiency, robustness, etc., but no attempt is made to include wider problems common to mercury-arc rectifiers as a class, namely frequency changing, inversion, harmonics, etc.