Push-pull self-oscillating electronic ballast for battery application

This paper presents an electronic ballast for battery applications. Low voltage applications including battery, have increased importance, due to emergency illumination applications as well as automotive applications. The ballast uses a push-pull converter, with a self-oscillating command to supply the lamp. Push-pull converter is well suited for battery application, when compared to half-bridge, since it doubles the voltage on the converter operation, while the half-bridge divides it. The self-oscillating circuit is used because of its reliability and simplicity, as well as low cost. In this ballast a 40 W fluorescent lamp and a 24 V battery are used. Design guidelines for the push-pull converter and the self-oscillating circuit are presented. Experimental results show the functionality of the converter as well as it proves it to be a good solution for several battery applications.