Chapter – 1

INTRODUCTION
Introduction 2

In this chapter, a general discussion to electrical heating is presented. Some

applications and advantages of induction heating have been discussed. Finally, layout
of the thesis is presented.

1.1 Introduction to Electric Heating

Electric heating is a process in which electrical energy is converted to heat energy.

Common applications of electric heating include the heating of buildings, industrial
processes and cooking of food. The heat generation through energy conversion
processes is related with energy losses. Electric heating are broadly categorized into
two parts, i.e. the power frequency heating and the high frequency heating. They are
also sub-categorized into many ways as given below.

Electric heating

Power frequency heating High frequency heating

With Core

High frequency
Resistance heating Induction heating
Without
Arc heating Dielectric heating Core

Infrared radiation heating

Electron beam heating

Low frequency
Induction heating

1.1.1. Introduction to Induction heating

Heating technology without contact had been known for more than hundred years. It
comprises a wide field of applications in metal working and in the metal casting
Introduction 3

industry because of its inherent benefits. The induction heating is a well known
method for producing heat in a localized area on a susceptible metallic object. Michel
Faraday in 1831 discovered electromagnetic induction for induction heated systems.
According to Faraday, electromagnetic induction is a phenomenon by which the
electric current is generated in a closed circuit by the current in another circuit placed
near to it. Faraday’s law was followed by another discovery of Lentz’s law (1834),
which explains the fact that inductive current flow is opposite to the direction of
changes in magnetic movement. With this important addition the formula of
electromagnetic induction became one of the cornerstones of the electromagnetism in
the course of studies of the heat generation in an electric circuit. J. P. Joule (1840)
formulated the law of electric heating known as Joules law. In 1861, J. C. Maxwell
combined the electric and magnetic phenomena. He predicted new features such as the
electromagnetic waves that must propagate in space with the speed of light. Existence
of these waves was confirmed experimentally by H. Hertz in 1887. Foucault (1868)
described a theory of eddy currents and Heaviside published an article “The induction
of currents in cores”. It deals with the transfer of energy from a coil to a solid core.
Thomson also contributed to the theory of induction heating.
Induction furnaces were introduced as early as 1887. Sebastian de Ferranti
(1887) demonstrated melting of iron and steel by the passage of induced electric
currents through the resistance of the metals. Such a furnace can be regarded as a
transformer in which the primary coil induces a current in an annular chamber or
metal bath, which acts as a short-circuited secondary winding. The same principle was
also adopted by E. A. Colby in U.S.A. The most successful early induction furnace
was designed by F. A. Kjellin in 1900. Another well-known early induction furnace
was designed by Frick. The main drawback of this furnace was the poor power factor
near about 0.53 (lag). Moreover, in those furnaces the spacing between the primary
coil and the annular bath, forming the secondary circuit, was found to be large.
Therefore, a large area in which stray magnetic fields were induced, results in a high
amount of leakage and thus it creates a low power factor.
Introduction 4

In the early part of 20th century, proposals were made for medium-frequency
melting using core-less induction furnaces in France, Sweden and Italy. In this period,
ideas were emerging on the use of capacitors to compensate for the reactive power. In
1916, E. Northrup, Professor of physics at Princeton University, invented the coreless
induction furnace. However, extensive use of such furnaces was limited by the power
available from spark gap generators. This limitation was alleviated to a certain extent
in 1922 with the development of motor generator set. In 1960’s motor generator set
were replaced by solid state converters for further higher frequency range.

In the literature of induction heating, the contribution of Brown et al. (1947),

Hartshorn (1949), Langton (1949), Shields (1969) and Sovie and Seikel (1967) are
important to mention. In recent years, the applications of induction heating and
melting have increased to the point where most engineers in the metal working
industries are familiar with existing applications. Various non-ferrous industries are
also developed coordination with induction heating principles and uses in making their
products. Modern developments have been promoted by high efficiency solid state
power supplies introduced in 1967. Over the last several decades, the overall
efficiency of these units has increased to almost 95%. In terms of equipment cost per
kilowatt available for heating, this has actually resulted in a decrease in cost after
adjustment for inflation.

1.2. Working principles of Induction heating

Induction heating involves applying an ac electric signal to a heating loop or coil

placed near a specific location on or around the metallic object to be heated. The
alternating current in the loop creates an alternating magnetic flux within the metal to
be heated. Current is induced in the metal by the electromagnetic flux and heats up the
material. Fundamental theory of induction heating is similar to transformer, where
primary coil is treated as heating coil and the current induced in secondary is directly
proportional to primary current according to turn ratio. Fig. 1.1(a) shows the
equivalent circuit of transformer. When the secondary is single turned and short
Introduction 5

circuited (shown in Fig. 1.1(b)) a substantial heat loss occurs due to increased
secondary load current.

(a) (b)

Fig.1.1: (a) Equivalent circuit of transformer and (b) single turned and short circuited
secondary.

Secondary
(Load)

Primary (coil) Alternating magnetic flux

Fig. 1.1(c): Basics of induction heating.

Fig.1.1(c) shows a system where the energy supplied from the source is of the same
amount as the combined loss of the primary and secondary. If the metal of the work-
piece to be heated is non-magnetic then heat is generated only due to eddy current.
Whereas, for magnetic material there will be some contribution from hysteresis loss.
This loss ( Phys ) is proportional to frequency ( f ) and the eddy current loss ( Peddy ) is

proportional to square of frequency (refer to equation 1.1) for magnetic material.

Introduction 6

Phys  K h fBm1.6 
2
(1.1)
Peddy  K e ( f Bm ) 


where, Ke , Kh and Bm are constants of eddy current loss, hysteresis loss, and
maximum flux density, respectively.

Therefore, hysteresis loss becomes small compared to the eddy current loss at
higher frequency. On the other hand, depth of penetration (  ) is inversely
proportional to frequency (refer to equation 1.2). Hence, selection of a proper value of
the frequency is required.


 (1.2)
 f

where, ρ = specific resistance of the work-piece and  = permeability of the work-

piece.
1.3. Advantages of Induction heating:

Prior to the development of induction heating, gas and oil fired furnaces provided the
prime means of heating metals and nonmetals. Induction heating offers a number of
advantages over furnace techniques such as:

 Quick heating: development of heat within the work piece by induction

provides much higher heating rates than the convection and radiation processes.

 Less scale loss: Rapid heating significantly reduces material loss due to sealing
(e.g. for steel) relative to slow gas fired furnace process.

 Fast start-up: Refractory materials present in the furnaces need to be heated

during start-up, resulting in large thermal inertia. The internal heating of the
induction process eliminates this problem and allows much quicker start-up.

 Energy savings: when not in use the induction power supply can be turned off
because of quick restarting. With furnaces, energy must be supplied continuously
to maintain temperature during delays in processing and to avoid long start-ups.
Introduction 7

 High production rates: As heating time is less induction heating often allows
increases production and reduces labor costs.

Besides these the induction heating provides other advantages such as-

 Ease of automation and control

 Less requirement of floor space
 Quick, safe and clean working conditions
 Requirement of less maintenance
1.4 Applications of Induction heating

Induction heating may be used in the following application areas:

 Annealing: Induction annealing and tempering processes (Haimbaugh, 2001) are

used to soften metal for improved ductility and machinability, as well as to
relieve residual stress. In contrast to hardening, annealing involves a much
slower heating step followed by gradual cooling of the metal. Tempering refers
to a reheating and slow cooling of metal which has become too brittle as a result
of a hardening process.
 Brazing: Brazing is the process of joining two or more pieces of metal or
ceramic material with a molten filler metal such as silver, aluminum alloy or
copper. Brazing requires a higher temperature than soldering but produces a very
strong bond which withstands shock, vibration and temperature change. Brazed
joints are both liquid- and gas-tight and provide good electrical conductivity. An
induction brazing (Curtis, 1950) system quickly delivers highly localized heat to
minimize part war page and distortion. Brazing in a controlled vacuum or in an
inert protective atmosphere can significantly improve overall part quality and
eliminate costly part cleaning procedures.
 Heat Staking (Zinn and Semiatin, 1988): When one piece of metal is designed to
be inserted into a second piece, induction heating can be used to "shrink fit" the
two pieces together. The first or larger piece containing the opening is heated to
expand the size of the hole. The second piece is then inserted into the opening,
and as the first piece cools and shrinks back to its original size, the resulting
Introduction 8

pressure holds the two pieces together in a strong bond. A press-fitting procedure
applies a physical force during the cooling process to make the bond even
stronger or shorten the cycle time.
 Non-Metallic Pipe line heating (Sadhu et al., 2002a, 2002b): The
electromagnetic induction based fluid heating appliance using the high-
frequency resonant inverter scheme used in the fields of medical, chemical,
mechanical and consumer heat energy processing in the pipeline system. Direct
fluid heating based on electromagnetic induction principle can be done in two
ways - pipeline surface or wall skin effect heating and package-in-pipeline
internal eddy current heating.
 Preheating prior to metal working (Zinn and Semiatin, 1988): Induction heating
prior to metalworking is well accepted in the forging and extrusion industries. It
is readily adapted through preheating of steels, aluminum alloys and specialty
metals such as titanium and nickel base alloys. The work pieces in this type of
application consist of round, square or round cornered square bar stock. For
steels, the high heating rates of induction process minimize scale and hence
metal losses. The rapid heating boosts the production rates.
 Melting: Induction processes are frequently used to melt high quality steels and
nonferrous alloys (such as aluminum, copper etc.). Advantages of induction
melting (Zinn and Semiatin, 1988) in compare with other melting processes
include a natural stirring action which makes more uniform melt and a long
crucible life.
 Adhesive bonding (Zinn and Semiatin, 1988): Induction heating used as
thermosetting adhesives for making certain automobile parts, such as clutch
plates and break shoes. As in paint curing, induction heating of the metal parts to
curing temperatures can be an excellent means of adhesive rapid bonding. Metal
to nonmetal seals, widely used in vacuum devices also rely heavily on induction
heating.
 Semiconductor Fabrication (Zinn and Semiatin, 1988): The growing of single
crystals of germanium and silicon often relies on induction heating. Zone
Introduction 9

refining, zone leveling, doping and epitaxial deposition of semiconductor

materials also makes use of the induction process.
 Tin Reflow (Zinn and Semiatin, 1988): Electrolytically deposited tin coatings on
steel sheet have a dull, matte, non-uniform finish. Heating the sheet on 230˚C by
induction causes reflow of the tin coating and results in a bright appearance and
uniform coverage.
 Induction heater as domestic cooking appliance: In electrical heating process
high frequency induction heating is more energy efficient as compared to other
power frequency electrical heating for domestic cooking purpose. High rate of
heat generation, immediate response, more uniform heat distribution, full
automation, good compactness, safe, higher efficiency, constant output power,
absence of shock hazard in the cooking pan, flexible temperature control and
high reliability are major features of high frequency induction cooking.

1. 5 Original Contribution

The following original contribution has been made in the thesis.

 Switch optimization: Different semiconductor switches have been tested and

select the most efficient one through software simulation and real time model.
 Circuit analysis of mirror inverter: Different topologies of inverter is
simulated and verified through real time model.
 Parameter determination: AC resistance and inductance of heating coil and
optimum operating frequency are analytically determined and the parameter is
optimized using neural network.
 Future direction of work has been given in the field of therapeutic engineering.
Introduction 10

1. 6 Layout of the thesis

Rest of Chapters of the thesis is structured as follows:

In Chapter 2, working principles of induction heater / cooker has been discussed.

Review of literatures has been made with the development of an energy efficient
induction cooker. Finally, Aims and objective of the thesis have been presented.

In Chapter 3, working principles a few important types of inverters have been

explored and their performances have been compared qualitatively. Finally, two
inverter topologies (hybrid inverter and mirror inverter) are highlighted. In this
chapter, performances of different semiconductor switches are also verified through P-
SPICE software and real time experimental model.

In Chapter 4, a mirror inverter-fed induction cooker (Sadhu et al., 2008, patent

no.216361 and 2010, patent no. 244527, Govt. of India) has been analyzed. Firstly, an
analytical solution has been made. Thereafter, a P-SPICE-based simulation has been
carried out and its results are compared with a real-time experimental model.

In Chapter 5, analytical expressions are derived for determining AC resistance and

inductance of the heating coil used in an induction cooker. Results are presented
varying different parameters of the induction heating system.

In Chapter 6, AC resistance of the heating coil is modeled using a three-layered feed

forward neural network. To get better result, a binary-coded genetic algorithm has
been used to tune the neural network. Results have been compared with a popular
analytical method.

In Chapter 7, real time experiments have been carried out with one prototype model
of the induction heater / cooker. Results have been presented with five different
temperature sets.

In Chapter 8, firstly the summary of the thesis has been presented. Thereafter, some
conclusions are made based on the critical observations through the study. Finally,
scope for future work has been indicated.

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