Improving the Reliability of Series Resonant Inverters for Induction Heating Applications

Author

Esteve, Vicente ; Jordan, Jose ; Sanchis-Kilders, Esteban ; Dede, Enrique J. ; Maset, Enrique ; Ejea, Juan B. ; Ferreres, Agustin

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. Eng., Univ. de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Volume

61

Issue

5

fYear

2014

fDate

May-14

Firstpage

2564

Lastpage

2572

Abstract

This paper analyzes a high-power (100-kW) high-frequency (50-kHz) voltage-fed inverter with a series resonant load circuit for industrial induction heating applications which is characterized by a full-bridge inverter composed of isolated-gate bipolar transistors and a new power control based on phase-shift (PS) control. This power control circuit incorporates a load-adaptive variable-frequency controller and automated blanking time management in order to allow the inverter to work in zero-voltage switching for all output power levels and load conditions. An important improvement of the inverter reliability is achieved by choosing an appropriate and novel switching sequence for the PS inverter. The results are verified experimentally using a prototype for induction hardening applications. A comparative study between the proposed and standard PS power control will be made.

Keywords

adaptive control; frequency control; induction heating; insulated gate bipolar transistors; load regulation; power control; reliability; resonant invertors; zero voltage switching; PS inverter; PS power control; automated blanking time management; full-bridge inverter; induction hardening; industrial induction heating applications; insulated-gate bipolar transistors; load-adaptive variable-frequency controller; phase-shift control; series resonant inverter reliability; series resonant load circuit; voltage-fed inverter; zero-voltage switching; Electromagnetic heating; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; Inverters; Power generation; Switches; Switching circuits; Transistors; Induction heating; phase-shift (PS)-modulated inverters; resonant power conversion; zero-voltage switching (ZVS);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0278-0046

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TIE.2013.2278509

Filename

6579693