| Summary: | M.Ing. (Electrical & Electronic Engineering) === Induction heating is a relatively old and established process. New switching devices and ideas are, however, resulting in much improved performance at reduced cost. Some of these devices are investigated in this thesis, and some new ideas presented. From a literature study a general review of the current state of the technology is given. The fundamental principles and limits of induction heating are discussed. Power electronic topologies for induction heating, as well as switching devices which can be used in these topologies, are compared and evaluated. From the knowledge gained, possible fields for improvement are identified. One such field is that of semiconductor switch drives, and a high-performance gate drive was developed. Using such fast drives, special attention must be given to the electromagnetic layout of the circuit. Another new field is that of integrated resonant elements. These elements find application in most resonant converters, and offer reduced weight and losses compared to conventional technologies. They are evaluated both experimentally and theoretically. A prototype induction heater was built, using a newly released switching device named a zero turn-off thyristor. The high-performance gate drive developed earlier was tested in the inverter and gave excellent results.
|
|---|
