Prospects of LED Lighting Fixtures in Tunnel Illumination Field

Currently, high-pressure sodium lamps are widely used in tunnel lighting due to their high visual light efficiency (up to 120lm/w). However, there are still some difficulties in using high-pressure sodium tunnel lamps, such as poor color rendering and a limited power selection range (usually only 250W and 400W). Especially in the internal lighting section, high-pressure sodium lamps do not have smaller powers and the glare and flicker caused by the point-shaped strong light source are quite serious.

The development of LED tunnel lighting

In some long tunnels, straight fluorescent tunnel lamps are used because of their higher color rendering and linear lighting, which have better visual induction. However, due to the short lifespan of fluorescent lamps, usually only about 8,000 hours, they need to be replaced frequently, which greatly increases the maintenance cost of tunnels. In addition, fluorescent lamps have lower power and cannot achieve the required illumination in areas such as entrance, transition and exit sections.

In recent years, with the maturity of tunnel lamp technology and the reduction of electrode factors, tunnel lamps have longer lifespan and can achieve higher power compared to traditional fluorescent tunnel lamps, which gives them an advantage in tunnel lighting.

However, the luminous surface of the LED tunnel lamp is larger, and the optical efficiency of the entire luminaire is lower during optical design. The LED tunnel lamp can be said to integrate the advantages of high-pressure sodium, straight fluorescent, and tunnel lamps, making it an ideal light source for tunnel lighting applications.

The advantages of LED tunnel lamps are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

High luminous efficiency: Currently, the mass-produced single-chip 1W LED has an efficiency of more than 100lm/w. Since it emits light from only one side, it can achieve high luminaire efficiency in the entire optical system design process.
Long lifespan: Under reasonable heat dissipation design and power supply driving conditions, LEDs can have a lifespan of up to 50,000 to 70,000 hours. For LED tunnel lighting applications that are lit for 24 hours, maintenance costs can be greatly reduced.
Easy light distribution: Due to its small light-emitting size and uni-directional light emission, LED light sources can easily cooperate with lenses or reflectors to achieve ideal light distribution, not only improving the overall utilization efficiency of tunnel lamps but also ensuring good evenness.
Intelligent dimming control: LEDs can be used for dimming the lamp, which can dynamically change the brightness of tunnel lighting based on the brightness of the entrance, fully utilizing the technical features of LED tunnel lamps and further improving the energy-saving effectiveness of LED tunnel lamps, achieving intelligent tunnel lighting.

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