Power supply for resistive heating of iron components

Abstract

This paper deals with the design and construction of a switching power supply which is intended for direct resistive heating of iron components. The power supply is especially intended for resistive heating of horseshoes. The supply is able to deliver an output current of up to 1600 A at a power of up to 2500 W. The chosen topology, design parameters and control strategy are included in the contribution. Specific construction of the pulse transformer with respect to minimum leakage and details of the secondary synchronous rectifier are described. Finally measurement results are presented and operation details are introduced and documented with the measurements. The power supply was successfully tested and the required output parameters were met. However some problems do exist, especially with contacting the heated component to the output leads of the supply. The power supply can be used as an alternative solution to classic means of iron heating. The methods and ideas presented in this work can be applied in a design of a similar power supply with high output current, but most of the design rules are valid generally for the given topology.