BASIC OPERATI G PRI CIPALS A D PILOT PROTOTYPE

DEVELOPME T OF A MEDIUM SCALE I DUCTIO

HEATI G MACHI E

A.G.Theodorakis1, G.A. Vokas1*, P. Fergadiotis2

1
Department of Electronic Engineering, Piraeus University of Applied Sciences, Egaleo, Greece
2
Piraeus University of Applied Sciences, Greece
* gvokas@puas.gr

Keywords: Induction heating machine, resonant experimental methods in chemical engineering. In this
converter topology, energy saving, asymmetric research M.F.I.M. is used applying ASCRs as main
thyristors, prototype development switching elements, in Zero Current Resonant converter.

Abstract The two following pilot prototypes are analyzed: (a)

Current Source Series Resonant Boosted Inverter, and
The aim of this paper is to develop, present and analyse (b) Current Source Series Resonant Converter under
a pilot prototype of a medium scale 25kW induction different supply conditions. The variation of the first,
heating machine. After theoretical investigation of with respect to the other is consisted in the frequency of
various topologies, the Current Source Zero Current conversion and power level. More specifically, the first
Resonant topology was selected, optimized and adapted, pilot prototype is 7kW – 7kHz and the second pilot
for the achievement of this pilot prototype. prototype 25kW, 10KHz. In every High Power
Infrastructure limitations of the Power Electronics Converter Circuit, probably the most demanding
Laboratory and power supply restrictions led to the characteristic is the high conversion efficiency, which
development of a 25kW pilot prototype, as a first step of means minimization of the total power losses.
our on-going research on this field. Power Efficiency, Especially, when the frequency and the power level are
performance, long-term reliability of stressed increased, the losses minimization task is a major issue.
components, restrictions and side-effects of practical In the semiconductor inverter circuits another ultra-
implementation, expandability at higher frequencies, critical problem is addressed: the rapid change of
and power levels, are the main parameters, which are voltage and current per time (di/dt & dv/dt in short) is
studied and taken into account for our prototype failuratic for the main switching element, when a
implementation. This experimental induction machine is specific value is exceeded. In order to complete this
designed, developed and operated successfully in the task, an efficient and robust topology must be chosen,
Power Electronics Laboratory of Piraeus University of the right components of which must be wisely selected.
Applied Sciences / Electronic Engineering Department.
The Compound Impedance Adaptation (‘matching’ in
1 Introduction short) between the output of the converter and material
under heating are also taken into consideration, with the
As known, induction heating is a non-contact heating converter frequency and the size and type of working
process. High frequency currents are used in order to coil (in short) as parameters. The problem of reactive
heat equipment, melt specimens, under the prerequisite power handling, when the machine is un-loaded
that they must be electrically conductive. This process is (without specimen into the work coil) will be studied
very efficient since heat is generated inside the and solutions for overcoming all the above problems
workpiece in form of dyno-currents, compared to other will be proposed and presented.
classical heating processes, where heat is generated by
flame or a resistive heating element, which is then In practical implementations, the ratio of the input
applied to the workpiece by conduction. Industry power of the converter to the mass of the processed
heating processes seem to be the most attractive metal (melted, welded, or other), is a safe criterion, for
applications of induction heating machines, for the the total performance of the machine. For fast thermal
additional reason that through them excellent control in imparting of the specimen, appropriate matching is
thermal energy is achieved, providing significant energy necessary; this must be considered for the design of
saving and increasing the competitiveness [1, 8, 29]. working coil, taking also into account the power rating
of the I.H. Converter.
There are two main categories of induction heating (I.H.
in short) machines: The Medium Frequency (M.F in In the following paragraphs the major design
short) and the High Frequency (H.F. in short). Each considerations, the proposed topologies of the pilot
method is used for specific applications, i.e. M.F. induction machine and the main operational
converters are used for melting of conductive materials; characteristics of it will be presented, accompanied by
H.F.I.H. methods are used for tube welding, and some the necessary photographic verification material.

1
2 Design considerations, study of - Lower Static Voltage Drop when in conductive state
constructive elements and topologies (about 0.3-0.4 times than an Equivalent FTO) [1].
- The voltage after a specific small time period
2.1 ASCRs for Medium Frequency, High Power (0.5µsec) of positive edge of trigger current is the
Induction Heating Inverter Dynamic Voltage Drop. This parameter is minimised
There are many types of PWM converters involved in when commutation occurs from the off-state to
many topologies in the world bibliography [1, 12-16], conductive state, as shown in Fig. 2. [Source: Dynex
implementing Bipolar Transistors, MOSFETS, IGBTs, Semiconductors, ACR44U datasheet (formerly
Thyristors, and recently IGCTs. For a high output power Marconi)].
of an I.H. converter, and after extensive studies, we
figured out that (for the solid state converters) Resonant
Converter is best adapted, because switching losses are
minimized, and conduction losses are under control,
when the ASCR, as main switching element, is used
because of the following reasons:

(a) The latchable devices (various types of Thyristors)

is the only category with lower conduction losses
compared to all the rest types, due to the self-biased
mechanism of the two equivalent transistors PNP and
NPN at the high voltage levels appearing in power
inverters (Fig.1). Thyristors are not destroyed by large
current overloads. In our implemented pilot converter
repetitive peek current in excess of 2000Amps is Fig 2 Dynamic on state voltage in an ASCR, source:
observed, carried by an 180Amps DC ASCR type ACR44U16LE Dynex datasheet
AD180S10KBF (Eupec), with no signs of wear of
switching element after 2 hours of continuous work, - High di/dt ability (in excess of 1000A/µsec)
with the heat diffuser keeping the base-plate - Shorter turn-off time (4-8µsec for small ASCR, and
temperature under 60o C. 10 to 25µsec for large ASCR)
- The turn-off time (tq – dv/dt) combination can be
further improved by the application of negative gate
bias (gate assisted turn off thyristor)
- It has no ability to withstand reverse voltages – this
explains the term Asymmetric.
Fig. 1 Two Transistor Thyristor Model, Source:
Wikipedia (d) Lower Radiated Electromagnetic Interference. The
re-application of a fast rising voltage pulse (with large
At lower voltages the power MOSFET is preferred than dv/dt) just after turn-off, induces charges in the thyristor
IGBT in terms of conduction losses, however in PWM disk, near the gate to cathode area, and a false triggering
mode the turn-off current-tail phenomenon appears can be occurred; the false commutation probably means
causing increased temperatures and high switching short circuit of the converter branch. So, for safe
losses [7, 13]. At high voltage level Power MOSFET is commutation, more study on this issue is necessary.
un-optimized due to the higher conduction losses [8].
2.2 Current Source and Voltage Source Converters
(b) The switching losses in power converters appear When the DC Power Source delivers continuous current
when voltage and current are applied simultaneously (with no interruptions) into the converter, the topology
into the element, in every switching transition. When is characterised as Current Source Converter (C.S.C.).
the operating frequency of conversion is growing, the When the DC Power Source delivers continuous voltage
switching losses also are growing. The size and (with no interruptions) in the converter, the topology is
diameter of the material under heating and the need of characterised as Voltage Source Converter (V.S.C.).
core-less working coil necessitate the increase of This discrimination is critical for the following analysis.
converter frequency into the kHz range (1kHz-20kHz
for various M.F.I.H. machines). For maximum 2.3 PWM and Resonant Converters Investigation
throughout (Industrial use) the power levels are very
As mentioned in 2.1, resonant methods provide lower
high (5kW up to 3MW, for M.F.I.H).
switching losses versus the Square Wave Inverters (Fig.
(c) The ASCR is a variation of the conversional Fast 3). It is implementation dependent to limit the RMS
turn-off Thyristor (FTO in short) introduced by R.C.A. current into reasonable levels, for further limitation of
Solid State at 1975 and has inherent advantages versus conduction losses, in the case resonant converters.
the FTO:
2
 3 Design constrains - respective solutions
3.1 The catastrophic effect of di/dt rate, higher
than specified by the thyristor manufacturer
At the start of conduction (just after the triggering of the
thyristor), only a small area of semiconductor disk is
Fig 3. Current, Voltage, & Power switching losses, in supporting the conduction of anode current. If this
the Square Wave, and Resonant Converter, source: [2] (anode current) has high di/dt rate, and high value then,
at the instant of starting of conduction, a small area near
Another problem related to the M.F.I.H. is the ability of the gate electrode in the semiconductor disk caries the
the converter to handle the reactive power, especially in whole anode current. The rest part of disk is not
the case that no specimen exists into the working coil. conductive yet. So, the current density in the area near
In any case (Resonant or Square Wave Converter) this the gate is extremely high. A hot spotting or even
parameter must be considered. plasma effect is appeared in this small area. This small
part of semiconductor is cracked or melted, and the
From the above analysis Asymmetric Thyristor whole device failure is sure. To avoid this situation,
Resonant Converters seem to be the most efficient and semiconductor manufacturing companies have
reliable configurations for Induction Heating machines. developed some solutions:

2.4 PWM and Resonant Converters Investigation Firstly, the gate electrode has been set in the centre of
semiconductor disk (Center Gate Thyristors) and so, the
As known, Resonant Converters are classified as two distribution time of gate charges in the whole thyristor
main categories: The Zero Voltage Resonant & the Zero disk area is minimized. The di/dt is up to 50A/µsec.
Current Resonant (ZVR and ZCR in short). When the Secondly, various power semiconductor companies
voltage input is continuous, converter is operating in apply the “Ring amplification technology” with small
voltage mode or voltage source. When the current input improvements of di/dt rating (Fig 4a, 4b). With this
is continuous, converter is operating in current mode or method, a pilot thyristor provides a high gate current to
current source. Various sub-topologies can be the whole thyristor area, while high enough trigger
implemented (Full of Half Bridge, Push – Pull Center current is delivered to the whole thyristor disk due to
Taped or others). As explained below, every switching amplification effect of pilot thyristor, and finally turn-on
element is optimized for specific mode of conversion. losses are decreased, improving the di/dt to 200A/µsec.
According to references, ZV is optimized for operation
with Power MOSFET, and ZC is optimized for use with
FTOs, and ASCR [13-16, 19-28].

IGBTs can also operate in ZC, however a complicated

driving circuit is needed. These topologies produce near
sine waveforms as output, while they do not need
additional active components for turn-off commutation.
The Reactive part of the converter (Resonant capacitor
and inductance) are zeroing the current or the voltage on
the main switching element (ZC or ZV), and the losses
tends to zero as well. It is known, that the SCR is a b
turned off by the zeroing of current, and can accept Fig 4. Ring amplification thyristor
forward voltage, when tq time is elapsed. This is known a. Thyristor equivalent
as commutation time or turn-off time. Otherwise, b. Form of a Ring Amplification Thyristor
commutation fault will appear. This is a very critical
parameter, which is depended by re-applied dV/dt. The Thirdly, Westcode and ABB Semiconductors provided a
component specs provide tq with dV/dt as parameter, significant improvement (patented by [9] and others) by
while the restriction of the upper frequency of converter applying the Distributed Gate technique at Thyristors
is estimated by the following formula (1): for Induction Heating inverters. The gate-to-cathode
geometry is modified for fast distribution of conductive
t q < Tresonant / 2, t q < π ⋅ LC (1) area. More semiconductor manufacturers followed
successfully this method and expanded this technique in
other latch-able components such as GTO, and IGCT.
2.5 Series & Parallel Resonant Topologies
When Resonant Reactive components are in series, a The form of semiconductor disk is as in Fig. 5; the gate-
Series Resonant Converter is formed and when they are to-cathode pattern is designed with such a way for best
in parallel, then a parallel Resonant Converter is surface distribution of gate current in the wall area of
formed. The two topologies have major differences in thyristor disk. It is actually a fractal form pattern. With
their behavior, when applied to resonant or PWM this method, di/dt exceeded 1000A/µsec. After the
converters [1-6]. introduction of ASCR by RCA in 1975 a small number
3
of semiconductor manufactures produced ASCR value must be lower than the element voltage handling
(Philips BTW63-800RK, Thomson TSD835, and ability (plus a safety margin). Because in power
EUPEC A438S-A931S). For over 25 years (1990 upto electronics high current is interrupted by semiconductor
2005), ACSR was a very rare component. After 2005, elements, the transient overvoltage is very high, and in
ASCR is produced again by some manufactures with any case the voltage rating of the element must not be
very exceptional characteristics (Infineon, Westcode, exceeded. In order to absorb this overvoltage transient
Dynex, etc). Recently, Westcode make a combination of (and set it into the voltage rating margins as defined by
Distributed Gate Thyristor and Asymmetrical structure, manufacturer), special circuit is connected in parallel to
in a single high power disk press-pack type. the element (snubber circuit). In high frequency power
electronics, the snubber circuit design is a difficult task,
because high power at ultra-short time must be handled;
cable length connection of snubber circuit with the
switching element is highly critical; large lengths
practically cancel any absorption ability of the snubber;
the reactive components of the snubber must be with
ultra-low parasitic values; the rectifier diodes of the
snubber must be ultra-fast. If the repetition rate of
switching is high (i.e. here 10kHz), a fully regenerative
Fig. 5 Cathode/gate pattern of distributed gate thyristor snubber is a good solution; otherwise a dissipative
snubber must be designed and applied with care.
3.2 Failuratic turn-on of thyristor when dV/dt rate
exceeds specified values A snubber must also limit the dV/dt rate across the
switching element; commutation fault is occurred, when
After the full turn-off of thyristor, a forward voltage is dV/dt – tq combinational parameters are exceeded, with
developed, with a specific rate (forward dv/dt). Due to catastrophic results. In Figures 6a, 6b real oscillograms
the parasitic capacitance of the center P-N junction of are obtained, where the disappearance of overvoltage
PNPN thyristor (which supports the forward voltage) a transients by the successful application of snubber
gate current is developed as in equation (2): circuit is obvious, while dV/dt slope is also reduced.
dV forward
i gate = C parasitic ⋅ (2)
dt
If this value of parasitic gate current is exceeded, a
failuratic turn-on is appeared, with its inherent
catastrophic results. The parasitic gate current is
developed not only when forward dV/dt is developed,
but also, when high frequency ringing is appeared after
the full turn-of of the thyristor. During the impleme-
ntation of our prototype, parasitic ringing at 30MHz was a b
experienced, a fact considered as very dangerous. Fig. 6 Oscilllograms for the snubber circuit effect
a. dV/dt high peak on switching element
3.3 Effect of forward applied dv/dt to the thyristor b. Peak deterioration using snubber circuit
turn-off time tq
After the complete disappearing of the anode current Further on, in order to avoid catastrophic high values of
Ianode, in order to achieve safe commutation, time more di/dt, a di/dt snubber is connected in series.
than tq must be elapsed, with no anode current; this time
is necessary, for the complete removal of internal 3.5 Handling of reactive power under various loads
thyristor charges, a process which is necessary to set the The inherent property of series ZC resonant converter is
element into the off-state. If just after removal of well adapted to the application of I.H. because it is very
internal charges, a high dV/dt is applied, then new di-sensitive to the variation of load power factor. Load
internal charges are generated, and element goes into power factor is dependent from the coil geometry (value
conductive state again, with catastrophic results. For of Lw) and coupling factor k. As presented later in the
this reason manufacturers provide the tq value with oscillograms of Fig. 13, 14, a zero coupling factor
combination of re-applied dV/dt, i.e. for 200V/µsec re- (heavily inductive power factor) creates approximately
applied dV/dt typical value of tq is 20 µsec, but for the square wave voltage pulses at the thyristor; the small
same specific device for a 1000V/µsec reapplied dV/dt, slope in the waveform is due to no load losses in the
a value of tq>35µsec is necessary. resonant circuit; with no specimen into the work coil,
we have no energy absorption. So, all the energy which
3.4 The positive effects of a Snubber Circuit is stored to the resonant capacitor, is returned on it at the
When high currents are interrupted by the switching end of resonant state, and recharges it at about the same
element, an overvoltage is appeared across it; if this voltage level. When specimen exists into the working
switching element is a semiconductor, this overvoltage coil, (resistive - inductive power factor) energy
absorption is developed on it, and the resonant capacitor
4
has less voltage at the end of every resonant state. The The variation of load R slightly affects the resonant
more coupling factor, the more energy absorption exists, frequency. Because the penetration depth inside the
explaining the triangulate voltage shape oscillogram. material is a function of frequency and material µ, as
shown in Fig. 7 for steel specimen, the value of circular
3.6 Converter to working coil matching, with running R is affected.
frequency and size as parameters
The working coil is constructed to withstand the high
current that it flows into it. Because of the various size
of material under heating, hardening, braising, or
melting the working coil can take suitable forms. Water
cooling, is sometimes necessary, and a closed
circulation of cooling medium (water) is used. In
Induction Heating Method, the combination of working
coil and material under heating (specimen) forms a
core-less transformer, with voltage ratio of N1/1 (N1 is Fig 7 Current penetration depth in steel. Current is
the number of turns of working coil). We assume that shown in blue (Source: Inductotherm)
the specimen forms one short circuit current path, or
more precise, a low resistance current path, in which the 4 Presentation of the main Induction
secondary current runs into the specimen heating it. For heating machine topology
fast temperature imparting, the current that flows into
the specimen must be high as in equation (3): Our implementation task takes place in the following
2
(3) two circuit variations as shown in Figures 8, 9.
Pheating = i ⋅ R path
That means the voltage per turn must be as high as In Fig. 8, the main topology of the 7kW/7kHz induction
possible. When the available converter voltage is given, heating machine prototype is presented. After its
and in order to achieve maximum volts per turn, the successful operation, an improved topology in terms of
number of working coil turns must be reduced, but di/dt, power and energy efficiency is developed as shown in
into the coil and converter is growing, following the Fig. 9. More specifically, the main topology of a 25kW
peek current analogy shown in equation (4): at 10kHz induction heating machine is implemented,
C res integrating a 3-phase ac/dc rectifier and an improved
I peak = Vcr ⋅ (4) snubber circuit. The two topologies are similar to each
Lres
other according to the known bibliography. The
When the frequency is growing, the converter di/dt, is topology in Fig. 8, has as innovation the use of an
also increased, as understood by equations (5): ASCR (asymmetric thyristor) for reasons explained in
di (t ) previous analysis. The snubber circuit is actually an R-C
i (t ) = I o ⋅ sin(ω ⋅ t ) , = I o ⋅ ω ⋅ cos(ω ⋅ t ) (5)
dt snubber properly calculated.
So, when high power output is demanded at elevated
working frequencies, switching element di/dt limit must The topology of Fig. 9 implements a 3-phase ac/dc
be taken into consideration. Practically, in the high rectifier, a larger ASCR and an improved two-stage
power level di/dt is the absolute limit; nowadays snubber circuit, which is actually a DLRC one,
semiconductor manufacturers produce high power composed of 2 power diodes in series, 2 Resistances, 2
thyristors in press-pack case, but di/dt limit is difficult Capacitors and one coil (L). Snubber circuits improve
to be overcome. In the H.F.I.M. converters the the dV/dt rise and the voltage waveform ripple after the
compound output impedance Zout is high, so an RF deteriorated voltage peak.
matching network is necessary in order to maximize the
energy transfer. In M.F.I.H. converters the compound Important photos of the developed pilot prototype parts
output impedance Zout is very low; however in order to are presented in Figures 10 and 11. More specifically,
achieve fast heating of the element, the coupling of the ASCR & antiparallel FRD, with low geometric area
working coil to the material under heat must be as tight between them and the composed Capacitor bank
as possible, for better energy transfer. (14pieces * 2.2 µF = 30.8 µF) are presented.

Series Resonant Converter (S.R.C. in short) is A shunt resistance is used in order to be able to measure
inherently non-sensitive to the variation of coupling, but the current that flows into the working coil, in which the
if very strong coupling is achieved, as for example specimen is included. The used shunt resistance is
heating of an iron pipe of large diameter (heavy 100A-75mV, so given that the voltage from the
loading) the boosted type converter (our case) generates oscilloscope is 1,5V, the peak current is almost 2kA and
an additional voltage overshoot at the end of the is calculated as shown in equation (6):
inductive discharging period. In the case of loose 1,5V × 100 A
I peak = ⇒ I peak = 2.000 A (6)
coupling, or no specimen at all, no overshooting 0,075V
problem is observed. The specimen near the working
coil adds an R element into equivalent circuit.

5
Fig. 8 Topology of the 7kW - 7kHz induction heating machine prototype

Fig. 9 Topology of the 25kW - 10kHz induction heating machine prototype

Fig. 10 ASCR & antiparallel FRD, with low geometric area Fig. 11 Developed capacitor bank of 30,8µF
in-between & Westcode R3968F Distributed Gate Thyristor

6
5 Experimental results
The proposed topology was implemented in the pilot
prototype induction heating machine, developed in the
Power Electronics Laboratory of Piraeus University of
Applied Sciences (TEI Piraeus) of the Electronic
Engineering Department. In Fig. 12 a rapid Red-
calcination of an inox 316L steel pipe of 112mm
diameter was achieved in less than 100 seconds.

Fig. 14 Voltage oscillogram across the thyristors of the

second topology

6 Conclusions
In this paper two variations of the selected topology of
resonant converters are used for an induction heating
pilot machine implementation and experimental
verification at the Power Electronics Laboratory of TEI
Fig. 12 Red-calcination of an inox 316L steel pipe of Piraeus. Resolving implementation problems and
112mm diameter defining operating limitations on them was one of the
main targets of this research. Solutions of the problems
The energy needed for this achievement was about and overcoming of limitations are presented and
0,22kWh (=8kW*100sec/3600sec), significantly less justified. The whole task is expanded in order to achieve
than conventional heating methods. It is obvious that the the construction of an industrial scale high performance
steel pipe was red-calcinated ONLY at the target desired medium frequency induction machine.
place. This means huge energy saving, especially in
industrial applications, as no need for heating of the The pilot prototype operated perfectly as a rapid red-
whole steel pipe is necessary. calcination of an inox 316L steel pipe of 112mm
diameter was achieved in less than 100 seconds, with
The pilot induction heating machine worked properly, very low energy consumption (about 0,22kWh). All the
reaching operational characteristics as clearly shown in photos and oscillograms are original. The various parts
the oscillograms of Figures 13, 14. of the experimental models are handmade, by the
authors of this paper. A large amount of experience is
retrieved from the practical implementation, necessary
for the on-going and future research on this issue.
a
Moreover, the circular current stresses the switching
element when the converter is unloaded, because in this
case the Q (Quality factor of series resonant circuit) is
higher and because the circular current practically is
multiplied by Q. The resonant current is practically the
switching element current, so in the unloaded case this
b high current stresses them, occurring to an un-
favourable condition for this type of converters.

On the other hand Zero Current Series Resonant

Converters have the inherent property of large circular
Fig. 13 Oscillogram of the 1st topology: current for relatively small conversion power, are very
a. Voltage waveform 20V/div, 50 µsec/div flexible to various load and specimen conditions, while
b. Current waveform of the working coil 1V/div, they do not demand complicated firing circuit for its
50µsec/div switching elements.

In Fig. 14 the oscillogram of the second topology with 7 References

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