053EE11 – ELECTRIC ENERGY

UTILISATION & CONSERVATION

PAULRAJ THOMAS DHANRAJ

 UNIT 1 – ELECTRIC HEATING
Heat plays a major role in everyday life. All heating
requirements in domestic purposes such as cooking, room
heater, immersion water heaters, and electric toasters
and also in industrial purposes such as welding, melting
of metals, tempering, hardening, and drying can be met
easily by electric heating, over the other forms of
conventional heating. Heat and electricity are
interchangeable. Heat also can be produced by passing
the current through material to be heated. This is called
electric heating; there are various methods of heating a
material but electric heating is considered far superior
compared to the heat produced by coal, oil, and natural
gas.
ADVANTAGES OF ELECTRIC HEATING
i. Economical: Electric heating equipment is cheaper; they
do not require much skilled persons; therefore,
maintenance cost is less.
ii. Cleanliness: Since dust and ash are completely
eliminated in the electric heating, it keeps surroundings
cleanly.
iii. Pollution free: As there are no flue gases in the electric
heating, atmosphere around is pollution free; no need of
providing space for their exit.
iv. Ease of control: In this heating, temperature can be
controlled and regulated accurately either manually or
automatically.
v. Uniform heating: With electric heating, the substance
can be heated uniformly, throughout whether it may be
conducting or non-conducting material.
ADVANTAGES OF ELECTRIC HEATING
vi. High efficiency: In non-electric heating, only 40–
60% of heat is utilized but in electric heating 75–
100% of heat can be successfully utilized. So, overall
efficiency of electric heating is very high.
vii. Automatic protection: Protection against over
current and over heating can be provided by using
fast control devices.
viii. Less floor area: Due to the compactness of electric
furnace, floor area required is less.
ix. Safety: The electric heating is quite safe.
 MODES OF TRANSFER OF HEAT
 Conduction is a process in which transfer of heat takes
place between objects by direct contact.

 Convection refers to the form of heat transfer occurs

within the fluid.

 Radiation in which heat is transmitted without any

physical contact between objects.
 ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS OF GOOD
HEATING ELEMENT
 High-specific resistance: Material should have
high-specific resistance so that small length of wire
may be required to provide given amount of heat.
 High-melting point: It should have high-melting
point so that it can withstand for high temperature, a
small increase in temperature will not destroy the
element.
 Free from oxidation: The element material should
not be oxidized when it is subjected to high
temperatures; otherwise the formation of oxidized
layers will shorten its life.
 ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS OF GOOD
HEATING ELEMENT
 High-mechanical strength: The material should
have high-mechanical strength and should withstand
for mechanical vibrations.
 Non-corrosive: The element should not corrode when
exposed to atmosphere or any other chemical fumes.
 Economical: The cost of material should not be so
high.
MATERIAL FOR HEATING ELEMENTS
CLASSIFICATION OF ELECTRIC HEATING
 METHODS OF ELECTRIC HEATING
Heat can be generated by passing the current through a
resistance or induced currents. The initiation of an arc
between two electrodes also develops heat. Electric
heating can be broadly classified as follows.
(i) Direct resistance heating: In this method, the
electric current is made to pass through the)
substance to be heated.
(ii) Indirect resistance heating: In this method, the
electric current is made to pass through a wire or
high-resistance heating element, the heat so
developed is transferred to substance from the
heating element by convection or radiation. This
method of heating is employed in immersion water
heaters.
 METHODS OF ELECTRIC HEATING
Infrared (or) radiant heating: In this method of
heating, the heat energy is transferred from source
(incandescent lamp) and focused upon the body to be
heated up in the form of electromagnetic radiations.
Normally, this method is used for drying clothes in the
textile industry and to dry the wet paints on an object.
 RESISTANCE HEATING
When the electric current is made to pass through a
high-resistive body (or) substance, 𝐼 2 𝑅 power loss takes
place in it, which results in the form of heat energy. This
method of heating is called resistance heating.
The resistance heating is further classified as:
1. direct resistance heating,

2. indirect resistance heating, and

3. infrared (or) radiant heating.

Direct resistance heating

(i) Salt bath furnace

This type of furnace consists of a bath and containing

some salt such as molten sodium chloride and two
electrodes immersed in it.
 RESISTANCE HEATING

Such salt have a fusing point of about 1,000–1,500°C

depending upon the type of salt used. When the current
is passed between the electrodes immersed in the salt,
heat is developed and the temperature of the salt bath
may be increased. Such an arrangement is known as a
salt bath furnace.
 RESISTANCE HEATING
In this bath, the material or job to be heated is
dipped. The electrodes should be carefully immersed in
the bath in such a way that the current flows through
the salt and not through the job being heated. A low
voltage AC up to 20 V and current up to 3,000 A is
adopted depending upon the type of furnaces.
The resistance of the salt decreases with increase
in the temperature of the salt, therefore, in order to
maintain the constant power input, the voltage can be
controlled by providing a tap changing transformer. The
control of power input is also affected by varying the
depth of immersion and the distance between the
electrodes.
 RESISTANCE HEATING
(ii) Electrode boiler
It is used to heat the water by immersing three
electrodes in a tank as shown in the figure below. This is
based on the principle that when the electric current
passed through the water produces heat due to the
resistance offered by it.
 RESISTANCE HEATING
Electrode boiler tank is earthed solidly and
connected to the ground. A circuit breaker is usually
incorporated to make and break all poles simultaneously
and an over current protective device is provided in each
conductor feeding an electrode.
Indirect resistance heating
In the indirect resistance heating method, high current
is passed through the heating element. In case of
industrial heating, some times the heating element is
placed in a cylinder which is surrounded by the charge
placed in a jacket is known as heating chamber is shown
in the figure.
 RESISTANCE HEATING

The heat is proportional to power loss produced in the heating

element is delivered to the charge by one or more of the modes
of the transfer of heat viz. conduction, convection, and
radiation. This arrangement provides uniform temperature
and automatic temperature control. Generally, this method of
heating is used in immersion water heaters, room heaters etc
 RESISTANCE HEATING
Infrared or radiant heating
In this method of heating, the heat transfer takes
place from the source to the body to be heated through
radiation, for low and medium temperature applications.
In the radiant heating, the heating element consists of
tungsten filament lamps together with reflector and to
direct all the heat on the charge.
Tungsten filament lamps are operating at 2,300°C
instead of 3,000°C to give greater portion of infrared
radiation and a longer life. The radiant heating is
mainly used for drying enamel or painted surfaces. The
high concentration of the radiant energy enables the
heat to penetrate the coating of paint or enamel to a
depth sufficient to dry it out without wasting energy in
the body of the work-piece.
 INDUCTION HEATING
The induction heating process makes use of the
currents induced by the electro-magnetic action in the
material to be heated. To develop sufficient amount of
heat, the resistance of the material should be low, and
the voltage must be higher, which can be obtained by
employing higher flux and higher frequency.
In order to analyze the factors affecting induction
heating, let us consider a circular disc to be heated
carrying a current of ‘I’ amps at a frequency ‘f’ Hz. As
shown in figure
 INDUCTION HEATING
Heat developed in the disc is depending upon the
following factors.
• Primary coil current.
• The number of the turns of the coil.
• Supply frequency.
• The magnetic coupling between the coil and the disc.
• The high electrical resistivity of the disc.
There are basically two types of induction furnaces and
they are:
1. Core type or low-frequency induction furnace.

2. Coreless type or high-frequency induction furnace.

 INDUCTION HEATING
Core type induction furnace
The core type furnace is essentially a transformer
in which the charge to be heated forms single-turn
secondary circuit and is magnetically coupled to the
primary by an iron core as shown in Figure. The furnace
consists of a circular hearth in the form of a trough,
which contains the charge to be melted in the form of an
annular ring.
 INDUCTION HEATING
When there is no molten metal in the hearth, the
secondary becomes open circuited thereby cutting of
secondary current. Hence, to start the furnace, the
molten metal has to be taken in the hearth to keep the
secondary as short circuit.
Coreless type induction furnace:
 INDUCTION HEATING
It is a simple furnace with the absence core is
shown in the figure above. In this furnace, heat
developed in the charge due to eddy currents flowing
through it.
The furnace consists of a refractory or ceramic
crucible cylindrical in shape enclosed within a coil that
forms primary of the transformer. The furnace also
contains a conducting or non-conducting container that
acts as secondary coil.
If the container is made up of conducting material,
charge can be conducting or non-conducting; whereas, if
the container is made up of non-conducting material,
charge taken should have conducting properties.
 INDUCTION HEATING
When primary coils are excited by an alternating
source, the flux set up by these coils induce the eddy
currents in the charge. The eddy currents developed in
any magnetic circuit are given as:

where 𝐵𝑚 is the maximum flux density (tesla), f is the

frequency in (Hz), and 𝑊𝑒 is the eddy current loss
(watts).
In coreless furnace, the flux density will be low as
there is no core. Hence, the primary supply should have
high frequency for compensating the low flux density. If
it is operating at high frequency, due to the skin effect, it
results copper loss, thereby increasing the temperature
of the primary winding. This necessitates in artificial
cooling. The coil, therefore, is made of hollow copper
tube.
 DIELECTRIC HEATING
When non-metallic materials i.e., insulators such
as wood, plastics, and china glass are subjected to high-
voltage alternating electric field, the atoms get stresses,
and due to the rotation of atomic structure
(polarization), heat is produced. This is known as
dielectric loss.
 DIELECTRIC HEATING
If an AC voltage is applied across a piece of
insulator, an electric current flows; total current ‘I’
supposed to be made up of two components 𝐼𝑐 and 𝐼𝑅
where 𝐼𝑐 is the capacitive current leading the applied
voltage by 90° and 𝐼𝑅 is in phase with applied voltage as
shown in Figure.
Dielectric loss, PL = V I cos φ
= V 𝐼𝑅 [∵ 𝐼𝑅 = I cos φ]
= V 𝐼𝑐 tan δ

=
= 𝑉 2 ω C tan δ

tan δ
 DIELECTRIC HEATING
where ‘V’ is the applied voltage in volts, ‘f’ is the
supply frequency in Hz, ε0 is the absolute permittivity of
the medium = 8.854 × 10–12 F/m, εr is the relative
permittivity of the medium = 1 for free space, A is the
area of the plate or electrode (𝑚2 ), d is the thickness of
the dielectric medium, and δ is the loss angle in radian.
Therefore

𝑃𝐿 ∝ 𝑉 2 and 𝑃𝐿 ∝ f.

Normally frequency used for dielectric heating is in the

range of 1–40 MHz. The use of high voltage is also
limited due to the breakdown voltage of thin dielectric
that is to be heated, under normal conditions; the
voltage gradient used is limited to 18 kV/cm.
 DIELECTRIC HEATING
The advantages of the dielectric heating
 The heating of the non-conducting materials is very
rapid.
 The uniform heating of material is possible.

 Heat is produced in the whole mass of the material.

The applications of the dielectric heating

 The drying of paper, wood, etc.

 The gluing of wood.

 The heat-sealing of plastic sheets.

 The preparation of thermoplastic resins.

 The heating of bones and tissues.

 The processing of rubber, synthetic materials,

chemicals, etc.
 ARC HEATING
If the high voltage is applied across an air gap, the
air in the gap gets ionized under the influence of
electrostatic forces and becomes conducting medium,
current flows in the form of a continuous spark, known
as arc. A very high voltage is required to establish an arc
but very small voltage is sufficient to maintain it, across
the air gap. The high voltage required for striking an arc
can be obtained by using a step-up transformer fed from
a variable AC supply.
Another method of striking the arc by using low
voltage is by short circuiting the two electrodes
momentarily and with drawing them back. Electrodes
made up of carbon or graphite and are used in the arc
furnaces when the temperature obtained is in the range
of 3,000–3,500°C.
 ARC HEATING
There are two types of arc furnaces and they are:
(i) direct arc furnace and
(ii) indirect arc furnace.
Direct arc furnace
When supply is given to the electrodes, two arcs are
established and current passes through the charge, as
shown in the figure below. As the arc is in direct contact
with the charge and heat is also produced by current
flowing through the charge itself, it is known as direct
arc furnace.
If the available supply is DC or 1-φ, AC, two electrodes
are sufficient, if the supply is 3-φ, AC, three electrodes
are placed at three vertices of an equilateral triangle.
 ARC HEATING

The most important feature of the direct arc furnace is

that the current flows through the charge, the stirring
action is inherent due to the electromagnetic force setup
by the current, such furnace is used for manufacturing
alloy steel and gives purer product.
 ARC HEATING
Indirect arc furnace
In indirect arc furnace, the arc strikes between two
electrodes by bringing momentarily in contact and then
with drawing them heat so developed, due to the striking
of arc across air gap is transferred to charge is purely by
radiation. A simple indirect arc furnace is shown in the
figure below.
 ARC HEATING
These furnaces are usually 1-φ and hence their
size is limited by the amount of one-phase load which
can be taken from one point. There is no inherent
stirring action provided in this furnace, as current does
not flow through the charge and the furnace must be
rocked mechanically. The electrodes are projected
through this chamber at each end along the horizontal
axis. This furnace is also sometimes called as rocking arc
furnace.
The arc is produced by bringing electrodes into
solid contact and then withdrawing them; power input to
the furnace is regulated by adjusting the arc length by
moving the electrodes. It can be used in iron foundries
where small quantities of iron are required frequently.
 ELECTROLYSIS
Electrolysis, process by which electric current is
passed through a substance or electrolytic solution to
effect a chemical change. The chemical change is one in
which the electrolytic solution loses or gains an electron.
This process can be normally used for the extraction of
pure metal from their ores, the refining of metals, the
building up of worn parts in metallurgical, chemical, and
in other industries.
PRINCIPLE OF ELECTROLYSIS
The basic principle of electrolysis is, whenever a
DC electric current is made to pass through the solution
of salt, some metals can be separated from them. These
separated metals can be coated on any object to form a
pure thin layer.
ELECTROLYSIS
 ELECTROLYSIS
For example, a crucible filled with water in which
two electrodes (anode and cathode) are immersed and
those are supplied from a DC source as shown in Figure.
When sodium chloride (NaCl) salt is dissolved in water,
it decomposes into positively charged Na+ ion and
negatively charge Cl– ion, moving freely in the solution.
The positively charged ion (Na+) travels toward
the cathode and the negatively charged ion (Cl– ) travels
toward the anode. On reaching the cathode, each
positively charged sodium ion takes one electron from it
and forms a sodium metal. Similarly, each of the
negatively charged chloride ion will give one electron to
anode. Thus, sodium metal from the sodium chloride in
the water is deposited at the cathode. The above process
is known as ‘electrolysis’.