Induction Heating of the Large-Size Installations. Part 1. Study on the Power Frequency Dependence of the Heating Efficiency

The paper is concerned with numerical study of parameters of the magnetic system for induction heating of the large-size installations. The paper is included in a papers series concerning development of the installation for maintaining the specified pressing tool temperature for a long time period, more than 24 hours. Induction heating is the basic heating mechanism. Studies of the energy parameters depending on the power frequency are presented in this section of the paper. Determination of the basic frequency dependencies of efficiency and heat release is the objective of the paper. The studies were performed using numerical modeling in a three-dimensional formulation by the finite element method. A parametric study was carried out in which the frequency of the supply current was changed from 50 Hz to 60 kHz. During the study, the dependences of total electromagnetic power, volumetric loss density and efficiency on frequency were obtained. It was found that the optimal frequency for the most efficient induction heating process is 10 kHz.