118

sINGLaTURNWORKCOILANDINIEGRATH)HAT(3wG~~PORHEDRrmAND
HIGH PREQuwCy INDucnoN HEAllNG.

S.M.Swart, J.A. Femira

Rand Afrikaans University, Republic of South Africa Abstract: A single tum work coil with an integrated matching transformer for medium and high frequency induction heating application is propmed. The secondary of the transformer is an extension of the work coil, and the primary is situated within the hollow, water cooled secondary. Advantages o f the construction include: low series (leakage) inductance of the coaxial transformer; liquid cooling of work coil, coaxial transformer and switching devices. Higher efficiency of work coil is achieved by low leakage inductance, which givcS better coupling between the collvcrter and the workpiece. Simulation rwults compare the multi and single turn d l s with respect to work coil efficiency and investigate the difference in current distributions. Experimental mults are prrrented, using a series resonant converter with hybrid analogue and digital controller.

Kevwords: Induction heating.

The single tum work coil poses a restriction when a conventional construction method is used. Previously the number of tums on the work coil could be wried separately from the impedance matching transformer primary and secondary turns. The flexibility to match the design to a certain application still exists with this integrated structure, though it needs to be done differently. The three degrees of freedom now become the number of primary turns, the shape and size of the transformer core and the shape of the single turn work coil.

f three distinct An induction heating system usually consists o parts: the power source or oscillator, an impedance matching circuit and a load. The load consists of a coil in close proximity to the heated material, and copper tubing is often used to allow for water cooling during continuous operation. At large power Imls water cooling can also be in the power source to cool the electronic switches, inductors and capacitors. At lower power levels and at medium to higher frequencies advantage is usually not taken of the available water cooling, therefore the impcdance matching transformer is large and expensive heatsinks are required for the power semiconductors.
Dividing the induction heating system into a power source, impedance matching transformer and work coil, provide flexibility when matching an application to the induction heater, by being able to select and design these parts separately [l]. A different approach is proposed in this paper, the high frequencypart of the power converter, the impedance matching network and the work coil are integrated. In this way better high frequencyetfciencycan be achieved and in addition water cooling can be applied to the complete high frequency part of the syxtem. Integration is achieved by using a single turn work coil and using it to form the support structure and water duct of the system. Other parts of the system are sealed, insulated and placed inside or on the structure.

INIEGRAlED SlNGLE! lRANspoRMw

TURN COIL AND COAXlAL

Fig. 1 shows the complete three dimensional structure. The work coil is a single turn, hollow. netangular conductor, bent to form a circle. It is further extended to form the secondary of the coaxial impedance matching transformer.
A coolant flows through the one half of the secondary. around the

coil and through the otbcr half of the secondary. The primary is insulated and sealed to avoid electrical contact with the water coolant and i s placed inside the hollow secondary conductor to . form a coaxial structure, as shown in Fig. 1 One of the ends of the secondary winding I work coil is extended to provide space to mount the electronie switches and other components of the high frequency circuit of the powcr converter.

Figure 1: Three dimensional view of experimental Structure

Q 1993 The European Power Electronics Association

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A ~ y c o m p ucircuit t laput is paSibk due t o effective fooling and the Mthat both -of the amnded limb u c Nailable for ~kingcompoaenk.

In the arperimeatal" o n . troE6TiferritetranrIomKrwere used on the ends with three additional I d o n s placed in betwccntoin~thcheightofthc~r Thclmgthof . thac I 4 o M all be varied to sapmmodate d w s work coil
Kik.

100

The doc d the water carplme were dui@

to handle a saaent f l o w rate of water through the whok shueture. It is preferable to connect the water inlet to the l i b where the high hquency pcmr amvcrtcr arcuit is mounted to keep the opcrating temperature of the scmimnductors at a low value.

The WOrL wil .adt " c r .ccond.ryconqnk a rectangular, hollow omductorwhich widcnr at the transformer to make room for the primay winding. Copper foil is used and the j o i n t sw r e soldered.

75

1I
10

The primay

Litz w k and to pmrrnt electrolysis and brcalrQam of galvanic isohtion between primary and secondary,
ylcs

All dimendons In mm
Figure 2 Dimensions of arpcrimental structure

additional insulation was applied to the primary winding. Despite the i n s u l a t i o n , v e y e f n t e m l i w a s achieved and at Is Nmm* the temperature risc of the coolant was only 10 d e g e g celsius. Impedance matchmg between the source and the load is achieved bywviOgthe number of turns on the primary. The range of load impedanas which can be auammodatcd with such a design is large, since the number of turns on the primary can be varied Meordig to the i r r d u e c d wAtage oycr the work coil due to the load, which mean$ that for a g k n frequency the transformer excitation stays conrtmt imspeetivc of the load matching, provided it is donc for madmum pomr.

Fig. 3 shows the block diagram o f the converter and control k u i t . which is described below.

The designed impod.nec matching tramformer has a turns ratio of 50 ( N p J which gives a primary n f e m d value for inductance f 8.Q. of 64SpH and a primary referred value for Mistance o
The t o p View o f t h e structure is Shawn in Pip 2,where all the dimensions of the structure are depicted, except for the height of the structure(130 me) and the height of the workpiecc (la0 mm).

Converter

F~gure3 Block diagram of scrics resonant converter and control circuit

120

me convcacr

A four pulse converter topologV is used to feed the induction heating load. The switches used in the converter are 600V/40A IGBTs with anti-parallel diodes. Snubber capacitors are also The analogue frequency control of this eircuit is achieved by placed in parallel with the switches. A series LCsircuit resonant at approximately 50is used. The capacitor in the LC-circuit adjusting the input voltage o f a voltage controlled mcillator, which is placed on the primary side of the transformer, while the produces a constant output voltage with a variation in frequency. inductor (work coil) is placed on the secondary of the transformer. The variation in switching frequency range is between 4SkHz and f the resonant capacitor is 165nF, while the resonant 1lOkHz Feedback control of the switching frequency is described The value o I inductor is 645pH and the resistance of the workpiece is & in the next section. Both the values of the inductor and workpiece are referred to the primary side of the transformer. The digital phase lag control is achieved by using a ring counter and multiplexer. The outputs of the ring counter are the input of the multiplexer. One output of the ring counter is chosen as a reference value for one output (Ql), while the other output (Q2) is selected through the multiplexer. The time (b) is then digitally controllable by selecting one of the eight binary combinations on the multiplexer which activate the preferred phase lag (duty cycle The operation of this circuit provides for maximum control of the load. The operation of the converter involves a combination of of the tank voltage). As reference, a square wave is considend 100% duty cycle. The possible duty cydes then obtainable are frequency control and phase lag control to ensure zero voltage switching. This control method is a combination of the different 12%, 25%. 42%, SO%, 64%, 7946,9246 and 100%. control methods used by references [2] and [3] in series resonant circuits for high frequency induction heating.
Reference [2] uses a constant switching frequency, with phase lag control between the converter legs. This method make it possible to control the modulating time when voltage is applied acmss the resonant tank. Reference [3] controls the output power only by varying the switching frequency. The switching waveforms generated in the converter of Fig. 3 are depicted in Fig. 4.

The control of switching frequency is done with an analogue circuit, while digital control is used to a c h i m phase lag. A digital phase lag control circuit is chosen, beause a change in analogue switching frequency will produce a variation in phase lag, if a RC time constant is used for varying the phase lag.

The protection circuit includes the protection o f the monant tank energy and the maintenance of zero voltage switching. Protection of the remnant tank energy is done by feedback of the capacitor voltage (Fig. 3) and the load current (Fig. 3). Tbm separate limits are preset for both the capacitor voltage and the load current. The converter will be controlled not to exceed the highest limit, by increasing the switching frequency and phase lag until the capacitor voltage and load current fall within the permissable range. Protection for maintaining zero voltage switching is also necessary.

all; U . :1 .
. . . . .

: 1
. .
. . . .

To obtain zero voltage switching of the power switches, the value

of load current during tum off should not exceed a certain minimum value. If the minimum value is exceeded, the possibility exists that the inductive current needed to charge the snubber capacitors in parallel with the switches (fig. 3), might not be enough to fully charge the voltage of the snubber capacitors. This means that the capacitors will be charged by the switches at tum on, and switching losses will increase, which may destroy the devices.

. . . .
. .

..

.. ..

. . . .
.

i . n . . .

:r

A further unwanted situation may exist under dynamic change of load inductance. When the workpiece is extracted from the work coil, a change in load inductance occurs. The result is a relatively slow change in resonant frequency, which will increase the Q factor of the circuit and consequentlythe load current will rise and zero voltage switching may be lost.
Figure 4 Switching waveforms of converter The switches on one leg of the c o m r t e r (Ql, Q3) and (Q2, are switched in a complementary manner. A variable phase lag exists between the switches of the opposite legs of the converter (Ql, Q2) and (Q3, W). The modulating time (b) when voltage is applied across the resOnant tank ( V , J , is shown in Fig 4. The f the resonant tank is also switching frequency(t.) shown in Fig 4 o variable. By understanding the switching waveforms, the control of frequency and p h w lag can be described. The protection for maintaining zero voltage switching is done by feedback of the load current at the turn o f f instant. A minimum f f . If the limit is limit is pMet for the load current at tum o exeeded, the switching frequency in the control circuit will be increased and the phase lag adjusted until zero voltage switching is obtained. Fig. 5 shows the line of minimum switching frequency to maintain zero voltage switching. The graph depicts the effective load current versus frequency for the different duty cycles, described in section 3.2.

a),

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Figure 5: Minimum frequency lie for zero voltage switching

Figure 7a: Flux lics ofsingle turn coil

A finite element method simulation was conducted on the multi f the two coils was exactly and single turn coils. The construction o the same except that the one coil has a single tum and the other one has eighteen turns.

The rcsults of mil and workpiecc losres were convcrtcd to a

f the work c o i l relationship which gives the impmvcment o effiency by comparing the single tum coil and a l&tum coil. The converter efficiency (q) is given by the nub equation: P w r dwipation in load ( P a
(q) =

x loo

Input power to system ( P , )

To f i d the relative impmvcment of a single tum coil m r a multi turn coil in work coil efficiency, the difference i n converter eflideneia were calculated, using the finite element method, and
is s b o m for steel and aluminium uorlrpieap in fig. 6 .

% Improvement
10 9 B 7 6 5
4

Figure 7b: Flux lies of multi tum coil

The results o f the equipotential lines o f the magnetic vcctor potential, which indicate the flux lines, show the difference in coupling when using single and multi tum coils with the same workpiece. It is apparent that the couplig between the single tum mil and workpiux is better than with the multi turn coil and f workpieee, since all flux lines don't couple with all the windings o the multi tum coil.
Current densiticswere calculated and current distributionsplotted f o r the single and multi tum coils with a steel mrkpieee. The rcsults are shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 and described below.

3
2 1
10

2s

50

75

100

Frequency W
Figure 6 Impmvement of the WOlL coil effiency

The mudmum improvemento f work coil efficiency, by using single instud of multi turn coils, for a steel wwlcpieceis 9.62%, and f o r
an aluminium workpka 2.4%. This rhoM that a single turn coil pertams batrr whea the *eee is o f magnetic material.

F i g . 7a and b shoM why the singk tum coil performs better than tbe multi tum coil, due to the couplhg of flux lies.

In the medium and high frequency n a p ,the skin and proximity o play an important role [4]. The effects in the work coil begin t higher losres in the multi tum mil can be attributed to axial eddy currents. Thcsc a d eddy m n t s c a w phase rcvcrsal o f current densities. This meam that h t l y a specific area of one tum i s included where t h e current density is positive, and sccondly that a specific a m o f one tum is included where the current f each tum i s density is negative. The current density at the top o positin, while it is negative at the bottom of each tum. When two adjoining t u m are considered, as shown in fig. 8, it is clear that the bottom o f the top tum has negative current density, while the top of the following tum has positive current density. This phase rcvcrsal between two adjoining tums therefore produces higher losses in the multi tum coil than in the single turn coil.

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Current d e n s i t y
1: -1.24e6

(A/,&)

The concentration of current density tends to shift towards the middle of the elliptical coil, which i s shown in R g . 10. T h i s i m p m m e n t could be important when work is done in the kVA and MVA range.
4

6:

g.64& 1.85~6 2.29e6

1 1.41~6

3: -3.59e' 4: 8.20e4
Y 4 V
5:

2: -7.99e'

5.23e5

9:

a:

7:

Current density

(A/mz)

3:

2.05e5

Figure 8: Current distribution in multi turn coil. eddy currents in the single tum coil are not as obvious as in the multi tum coil. In the single turn coil significant redistribution of i g , 9. It is d e n t that a current density takes place as shown in F at the top and bottom concentration of N m n t density o c ~ m comem of the single turn mil. Although the effective conduction area is reduced, phase resetsal of the current are virtually absent. For this reason a much better efficiency is obtained with the proposed single tum coil construction.
6
4

Figure 1 0 Current density in elliptical shaped coil

Current density -4.63~'

4.9

2:

5: 6:

2.1 2.6

Experimental results are presented for the converter of Fig. 3. The results comprise capacitor voltages (V& load currents (bd) and load voltages (Vu)for three separate combinations of duty cycles (d) and switching frequencies (f,), which control the output power of the converter. Measured waveforms arc shown in Fig. lla, b and c. The input voltages of all measurements arc 200 V, while the current drawn from the network changes with different duty cycles and switching frequencies.

By m m p n n g the measured waveforms of a and b, it is apparent that a reduction in the capacitor voltage of 170 V and load current
of 5 A appeared, with a reduction in duty cycle. The 42 % reduction in duty cycle also d d the input pawcr with 1.62 LVA. The shape of load current also changes with the different duty cycle. Figure 9 Current distribution in single tum coil.

GEOMEIRY VARIATION OF SINGLE TURN COIL

By comparing wavefoms a and e, it is apparent that the higher switchingfrequencyreduced the capacitorvoltage by approximately 130 V and reduced the input current by approximately 5 A.

Fig. 9 shows the rectangular cross-section of the experimentalwork coil of Fig. 1,which is changed to an elliptical noss-scction in Fig. 10. The idea of an elliptical coil was investigated by simulation to see if it is possible to achieve better cumnt distributions and higher efficiency of the work coil. Ten simulations were conducted with finite element analysis, which include elliptical coils with constant height, different widths and a change in distance from the workpiece. A maximum impnmment o f 58% less work coil Icses in the elliptical coil, than in the rectangular coil was simulated and a more uniform current distribution was obtained by the simulations.

An induction heating system, featuring an integrated structure for

the high frequency part of the powcr converter, impedance matching transformer and work coil is presented. The structure requires a single tum work coil, and it has been shown that a single turn work coil a n be more effcctivc than the nonnal multi turn work coil. A series resonant m v e r t e r topology was used and a combination of phase lag and frequency control was used to control the power to the load, and to compensate for dynamic change of the load inductance and mistance.

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1. Egan LR, Purlani EP., Scpt 1991, WEE! Tram Mag. Vol. 434343.54.

n,

2. &bat&, J.A., Lce F.C, 1989,I E E XAPEc, 213220.

3 . Dede El., EaM V., Gonzala J.V., Gama J., Maset E, Ramircz D., 1992, IEBEAFRICON, 91-94.
4. U o u Pei-hi, J.D. Lavns,Sept. 1986, IEEE Trans. Mae Vol. Mae-22. No. 5,1060-1061.

(a) d = 52% fs = fr Input power = 2 9 kVA

@)d=W% fs=fr Input power = 1.28 kVA

(e) d = 100% fs = l3fr Input powcr = 2.16 kVA