IEEE International Conference on Computer, Communication and Control, (IC4-2015).

Design Of Channel Induction Furnace Using IGBT

Technology
Sukriti Singh Aruna Chouhan
Department of Electrical Engineering, R. K. Invention
K. K. Wagh Institute of Engineering Education & Research Research, Design, Training & Development Center
Nasik, India Indore, India
[email protected] [email protected]

Abstract—The design of induction furnace is presented with Induction heating is widely used in both industrial and
purpose to introduce new control theory that is “the design of household fields because of high efficiency. It also presents a
channel induction furnace using IGBT technology”. The low level of contamination on the work piece to be treated [2,
experimental furnace is the unit that operates on 10-1000 Hz
3, 4].
frequency. The power electronics converter provides current,
power and consequently temperature regulation through voltage Because of high production rate, good heating efficiency and
and frequency variation. The circuit is mainly consisting of clean working environments Induction heating is widely used
power converter, induction furnace and induction heating. This in metal industry for melting or heating thin slab. This paper
paper presents the design and implementation of a parallel present the design of channel induction furnace with the
resonant inverter and parallel resonance tank operating at low tropology of AC - DC converter (rectifier), a filter and a DC -
frequency and high current for induction heating application. AC converter (inverter) with operating frequencies from 10
The main advantage of this work is focused in applying power Hz to 1000 Hz, which depends on the material to heat,
electronics, particularly a parallel resonant inverter based on dimension and quantity, load operating temperature and
IGBT switching and a parallel RLC load matched with coupling
treatment of piece and any physical load distribution inside of
transformer.
furnace coil [2, 5].
Keywords—Induction Furnace, Induction heating, Power
converter,IGBT, series resonant inverter.
II. THEORATICAL BACKGROUND
I. INTRODUCTION The channel inductors are characterized earlier as a
The electric induction furnace is a type of melting furnace transformer with the molten metal forming both the
that uses electric current to melt metal. Induction furnaces are secondary winding and the useful load. When the metal
ideal for melting and alloying a wide variety of metal with contained in the furnace is iron, the power factor of the
minimum melt losses, however, little refining of the metal is inductor varies from 0.4 to 0.75. The electrical eƥciency is
possible. Induction furnaces are used to heat metals through high, generally between 90% and 95%. In the early
magnetic induction principle [1]. nineteenth century, the phenomenon of induction heating was
The principle of induction heating is mainly based on two applied to the experimental melting of metals. The early
well-known physical phenomenon, furnace consisted of circular hearth or trough, which
Electromagnetic Induction and Joule’s Eơect contained the molten metal of an annular ring. This formed a
The energy transfer to the object to be heated occurs by short circuited single turn secondary winding of a transformer
means of electromagnetic induction. Any electrically which was energized by a supply of alternating current at
conductive material placed in a variable magnetic field is the normal line frequency. This design has inherent defects, such
site of induced electric currents, called eddy currents, which as mechanical force set up by the current flowing in the
will eventually lead to joule heating. Electromagnetic molten metal which tended to cause contraction and could
induction is the process that allows an induction furnace to result in the interruption of the current, thereby posing
work. It was first discovered in 1831 by Michael Faraday. operational diƥculties. This eơect was called ’pinch eơect’
During induction, an electric current is passed through a and a lot of attempts to solve it were not successful until in
metal coil which creates a magnetic field. When metal is the early 1900’s, when Ajax Wyatt removed the diƥculty by
introduced into the magnetic field, an electrical current passes placing the secondary channel in the vertical plane. The
through the metal and causes it to heat. Joule heating, also weight of the metal in the bath was then suƥcient to
known as ohmic heating and resistive heating, is the process overcome the forces, which caused the pinch eơect [6, 7].
by which the passage of an electric current through a
A. Electrical Circuit Of Channel Induction Furnace
conductor releases heat. The heat produced is proportional to
the square of the current multiplied by the electrical Figure 1 shows electrical circuit diagram of channel
resistance of the wire. induction furnace.
It is a traditional technique which is used for induction
Q ‫ ן‬I2‫כ‬R (1.1) melting of non- ferrous metals. It consists of Auto
 IEEE International Conference on Computer, Communication and Control, (IC4-2015).

Transformer, Contactors, Reactors, Capacitor bank. 415 V, piece, Turn ratio of secondary coil, Coupling degree
50 Hz, Three phase AC supply is given as an input. between coil and work piece.
In this electrical circuit only two phases are in use, so it Standard turn ratios of secondary coil of our machine are
achieves unbalanced condition. For balancing the circuit, always be X (16 ≤ X ≤ 20): 1. Output frequency of machines
reactors and capacitors are used. R-Y Phase is given to load. is depending on dimension and turns of induction coil.
For balancing the circuit B-R Phase is connected to reactor Shorter induction coil will bring higher output frequency,
and B-Y Phase is connected to capacitor. each machine have best output frequency to bring best
This electrical circuit is heavier in weight as it contains too heating effect. When output frequency is too high, machine
many heavy electrical components like capacitor bank, tap reduces output power and some element like IGBT will easily
changing transformer etc. burn when output frequency is low.
Problem Identified in electrical circuit: Helical coil used to heat round work piece have the highest
1. In this technology capacitors draw two times more current. value of coil efficiency and internal coil have the lowest
2. The electrical circuit is too heavy in weight. value. Coil efficiency is the part of energy delivered to the
3. For melting of alloys load should be zero for short time. coil that is transferred to the work piece
4. Water cooling is required. Type of power supply and production rate also is kept in
5. It is not a smart control technique. mind. If one part is needed every 30 sec but a 50 sec heating
6. In this technology frequency is constant i.e. 50 Hz is required it would be necessary to heat part in multiples, to
meet the desired production rate.
If the tubing is wider the resistance is low. We want to use
tubing so that we can water cool the coil. 3/8” copper tubing
or 1/2” copper pipe and necessary fitting can be used, so we
can feed water through one end and it will come out through
other end. More turns allows heating a bigger piece of metal.
x Number of turns of coil N: 4
x Thickness of tube: 2-2.5 mm
x O.D of tube: 10 mm
x Length of tube: 5 feet

III. TECHNOLOGY ABSORPTION

A. Resonant Converter

When power is connected electrical energy i.e.

ͳ
(ELൌ ‫ ) ʹܫܮ‬is stored in inductor and transferred to
ʹ
ͳ
Fig 1: Electrical Circuit of Channel Induction Furnace capacitorǤ ‫  ܥܧ‬ൌ ʹ ‫ ʹ ܸܥ‬of the amount of energy stored in the
capacitor to be send to the inductor. Resonance occurs
B. A source of high current electrical power supply while the inductor and the capacitor exchange the energy.
The total amount of energy stored in the circuit during
Source of power supply generates the low frequency high resonance remains unchanged. This total amount is the
current in induction heating system. The induction heating same as the amount of energy stored at peak in the
power supply sends alternating current through the induction conductor or capacitor. As some energy is lost due to
coil, thus generating a magnetic field. When a work piece is resistance in the resonance process, the total amount of
placed within the coil and enters the magnetic field, eddy energy shared in the inductor documents in each resonant
currents are induced within the work piece, generating exchange. The resonance Frequency which is the speed of
precise and localized heat without any physical contact energy transfer is determined by ’C’ and ’L’
between the induction coil and the work piece. The power ݂Ͳൌ ͳ (1.2)
rating of supply and frequency of power supply determines ʹߨ ξ‫ܥܮ‬
the speed at which a work piece can be heated. ”Induction At resonance XL = XC, voltage of the power source and
coil” is made by a copper coil which is wrapped around current in the current in the circuit stay at the same level. The
object to be heated. Since the coil creates the magnetic field current in the circuit reaches its peak when the source
for induction heating, so the heating coil design is important. frequency becomes identical to the resonance frequency. It
decrements when the source frequency gets higher.
C. Inductor Coil Design Selection ratio of half bridge series resonant circuit:
Heating effect and output power is influenced by Shape, Size, ߱
ܳ ൌ ‫Ͳܴ ܮ‬ (1.3)
Turns of Induction coil, Material and heating area of work
Where Z0 = XL = XC = 1 /ω0C = ω0L =√L/C
 IEEE International Conference on Computer, Communication and Control, (IC4-2015).

From above equation, the smaller the resistance is than the capacitors of small size which has a total capacity of 50 uF.
inductance i.e. when the source frequency is closer to the The switching frequency is 132 kHz. EMI filter is always
resonance frequency, the sharper the frequency curve and recommended to be used. A soft start can be used in order to
bigger the value of Q. replace the variac.
Area where the switching frequency is lower than the
resonance frequency, the inductive reactance has a direct
B. EXPERIMENTAL RESULT AND ANALYSIS
relationship with switching frequency. As the reactance
become more capacitive, the current gets higher to the
voltage in status. When switching frequency increases
impedance is bigger and enlarging the amount of output
frequency.
A. Electronic power circuit


Fig 3: Electronic Hardware Setup

Fig 3 shows the internal hardware setup of induction furnace
with IGBT Technology. Components used to make this
hardware are IR2153 (8 Pin IC), “ H- bridge IGBT”
(K40T120), Controlled rectifier, Capacitor bank for inverter,
Isolation transformer for resonant circuit, Blocking DC
capacitor, capacitor bank in resonant tank.
Fig 4 and Fig 5 shows oscillator cum driver circuit wave
form.
Fig 6shows the wave form of driver circuit in this:
Oscillator Supply voltage: - 15 V DC
Fig 2: Induction Resonant Furnace using IGBT
Oscillator output voltage: - 13 V AC
Wave form: - Square Wave
The resonant frequency is the frequency at which the
resonance circuit needs to be driven. The excitation current is
lower than the current flowing through the coil. In the
circuit4 IGBT (K40T120) is connected in the manner of H-
bridge. The IR2153 circuit is used to enable the working of
this whole circuit. The schottky diode is used in the form of
anti-parallel diode. A potentiometer is used in order to tune
the operating frequency into resonance. One of the best
indicators of the resonance is the LED’s highest brightness.
You can certainly build drivers which are more sophisticated
depending on your requirement. The frequency is controlled
in this circuit. An adapter of little size which can be of
transformer type is used to provide 14-15V of auxiliary
voltage which is required in the control circuit. An isolating
transformer and a matching Choke L1 are the electrical
Fig 4: Oscillator cum driver circuit waveform
equipment which is used to connect the output to the working
circuit. The choke consists of an inductor of 0.45 H, the
isolating transformer consist of 2.3 in x 1.5 in. The work coil
of the proposed IGBT induction furnace is made up of a wire
which is 2mm - 2.5 mm in diameter. A copper wire is
considered more suitable to make the work coil as it can be
connected easily and effectively to the water cooling. The
coil consists of four turns along with 5 feet length. The coil
can get hot in case it is subjected to prolonged operation.
Resonance capacitor is made up of and consists 50 pieces of
 IEEE International Conference on Computer, Communication and Control, (IC4-2015).

1 IGBT K40T120
2 Wave Form Rectangular
3 Max. Voltage 1200 V
4 Max. Current 75 A
5 Power Dissipated 270 W
6 Switching Frequency 132 KHz
7 Overload Duration 10 us

Table 3 shows the conditions, under which inverter works,

Fig 5: Oscillator waveform TABLE III. INVERTER CONDITION

1 Ambient Temperature 25° C

No. of switches per heat
2 1
sink
Additional power
3 0W
sources at heat sink
4 Type of heat sink Aluminum
Temperature of heat
5 Max. 150° C
sink

Fig.8 shows the voltage across the induction coil, it can be

observed a sinusoidal behavior with a voltage of 18 V. So the
power dissipated in the work piece is approximately 1 KW.
Fig 6: Gate drive (H- bridge)

Fig.7 shows the voltage waveform at the output of H- bridge

using IGBT. The change of the inductance causes changes in
the phase angle between the voltage and the current, and this
causes a change in output power of the converter.

TABLE I. CONVERTER PARAMETER TABLE

1 Vd 200 V
2 Imax 40 A Fig 8: Voltage across induction coil
3 Switching Frequency 100-150 KHz
4 Overload Duration 10 us

Table 1 shows the parameters, with which the converter

works

.
Fig 7:IGBT Waveform
Fig 9: Voltage waveform

TABLE II. FEATURES OF IGBT

 IEEE International Conference on Computer, Communication and Control, (IC4-2015).

Fig 10: Current Waveform

IV CONCLUSION
In this way we have constructed channel induction furnace
using IGBT technology. This electronic circuit uses smart
control technique for melting process. No external capacitor
is required for power factor correction. Here we can change
the frequency to compensate the load variation.

REFERENCES

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