Comparison of New Multilevel Inverter Topology with Conventional Topologies Used for Induction Heating System

In this article, a comparison of innovative multilevel inverter topology with standard topologies has been conducted. The proposed single phase five level inverter topology has been used for induction heating system. This suggested design generates five voltage levels with a fewer number of power switches. This reduction in number of switches decreases the switching losses and the number of driving circuits and reduce the complexity of control circuit. It also reduces the cost and size for the filter used. Analysis and comparison has been done among the conventional topologies (neutral clamped and cascade H-bridge multilevel inverters) with the proposed inverter topology. The analysis includes the total harmonic distortion THD, efficiency and overall performance of the inverter systems. The simulation and analysis have been done using MATLAB/ SIMULINK. The results show good performance for the proposed topology in comparison with the conventional topologies.

DESIGN AND SIMULATION OF A SPECIAL MEDIUM POWER INDUCTION HEATING SYSTEM FOR OXYGEN FREE COPPER PRODUCTION

For sustainability purposes this project is studying the recycling of copper scrap. It is intended to melt a copper in oxygen free environment to achieve a highly conducting copper suitable for electrical installation and bus-bars manufacturing. Such a project must be started by a design and simulation step. Since the furnace composed of two main parts, the power supply and the induction coil, the power supply is a current fed inverter (CFI) simulated using Matlab, and the induction coil simulated by Finite Element Method (FEM) using ANSYS computer package. The induction coil design of this project is a special task due to the limitation of the maximum output voltage of the available power supply. The results approve the visibility of the system to be implemented in near future.

Design of Thermally Constrained High-Frequency Induction Heating System

One of the most prominent application areas of induction heating principle is for sealing of caps of plastic and glass containers. It is increasingly being used to seal containers with extremely wide range industrial products. The process ambience around the controller for sealing of bottles containing different types of products could be different. Such prospects, often, could act as constraints for design of power controllers. Dust prone environment prevailing in processes such as for sealing nutraceuticals, coffee, a few pharma products, etc. recommends use of air-tight enclosure. It does not have any ventilation, even the natural air movement inside or the free convection is restricted. This article proposes that the internal convection could still be made effective by creating requisite buoyant force where both power converter topology and component engineering could play important roles. The topology should optimally reduce the power loss and surface temperature of components should be high. The proposed idea has been validated by designing a zero-ventilated 1.5 kW, 50 kHz induction heating system that includes the induction coil head.

A Simple Two-Stage AC-AC Circuit Topology Employed as High-Frequency Controller for Domestic Induction Heating System

The induction heating process at a domestic level is getting attention nowadays as this power converting topology ensures clean, reliable, flexible, and fast operation. The low input frequency is converted to required regulated high output frequency with indirect and direct power converting approaches. The circuit and control complexity and high conversion losses associated with indirect power converting approaches lower their uses for domestic induction systems. The direct ac-ac power conversion approach is one of the viable solutions for low and medium power level loads, especially for domestic induction heating loads. The circuit complexity, cost, and conversion losses of the direct power converting systems depend on the number of the controlled switching devices as each controlled switch requires one gate driving circuit and one isolated dc supply. Simplified pulse width modulation (PWM) switching control also lower their control effort. Therefore, in this article, a simplified direct ac-ac power converting approach is introduced for a high-frequency domestic induction heating system. Here, the regulation of the high output frequency is achieved by simply cascading the single-phase full-bridge rectifier with a full-bridge inverter with a simple control strategy. The characteristics of the developed topology are validated through simulation results of the Simulink-based platform and practical results of the developed practical setup.

COMSOL Simulation for Design of Induction Heating System in VULCAN Facility

The experimental facility VULCAN was setup to study the fuel-coolant interaction (FCI) phenomena in a postulated severe accident of light water reactors. The heating system is important for the facility to prepare molten material in a crucible. This article is concerned with the design of the heating system, which applies electromagnetic induction heating method. The COMSOL code was employed to simulate the induction heating characteristics of a graphite crucible under different current and frequency of the work coil (inductor). Given a frequency, the relationship between the crucible’s average temperature and the inductor’s current is obtained, which is instrumental to select the power supply of the induction heating system. Meanwhile, the skin effect of induction heating is analyzed to guide the choice of frequency and inductor of the heating system. According to the simulation results, the induction heating system of frequency 47 kHz is suitable for the experiment, with a good agreement in temperature between the measured and the predicted.

Design of Thermally Constrained High-Frequency Induction Heating System

One of the most prominent application areas of induction heating principle is for sealing of caps of plastic and glass containers. It is increasingly being used to seal containers with extremely wide range industrial products. The process ambience around the controller for sealing of bottles containing different types of products could be different. Such prospects, often, could act as constraints for design of power controllers. Dust prone environment prevailing in processes such as for sealing nutraceuticals, coffee, a few pharma products, etc. recommends use of air-tight enclosure. It does not have any ventilation, even the natural air movement inside or the free convection is restricted. This article proposes that the internal convection could still be made effective by creating requisite buoyant force where both power converter topology and component engineering could play important roles. The topology should optimally reduce the power loss and surface temperature of components should be high. The proposed idea has been validated by designing a zero-ventilated 1.5 kW, 50 kHz induction heating system that includes the induction coil head.

Design of Thermally Constrained High-Frequency Induction Heating System

One of the most prominent application areas of induction heating principle is for sealing of caps of plastic and glass containers. It is increasingly being used to seal containers with extremely wide range industrial products. The process ambience around the controller for sealing of bottles containing different types of products could be different. Such prospects, often, could act as constraints for design of power controllers. Dust prone environment prevailing in processes such as for sealing nutraceuticals, coffee, a few pharma products, etc. recommends use of air-tight enclosure. It does not have any ventilation, even the natural air movement inside or the free convection is restricted. This article proposes that the internal convection could still be made effective by creating requisite buoyant force where both power converter topology and component engineering could play important roles. The topology should optimally reduce the power loss and surface temperature of components should be high. The proposed idea has been validated by designing a zero-ventilated 1.5 kW, 50 kHz induction heating system that includes the induction coil head.