Electromagnetic and Thermal Analysis of Cylindrical Aluminum Billet Heated by 1MW HTS DC Induction Heater

Abstract

In order to improve the efficiency of the conventional AC induction heater, an HTS DC induction heating technology has been proposed. A 1 MW HTS DC induction heater has been developed, and the efficiency of the HTS DC induction heater can be more than 80% due to the HTS DC magnet with no AC loss. The electromagnetic and thermal analysis of the HTS DC induction heater is necessary for further optimization of the 1 MW HTS DC induction heater. A 3D finite element simulation model for the coupling analysis of electromagnetic and thermal has been built based on the actual 1 MW HTS DC induction heater and optimized for accelerating the computing speed by using permanent magnet instead of the HTS magnet. The heating process of the cylindrical aluminum billet has also been simulated and compared with the experimental results. The results show that the simulation results can be in line with the experimental results. What is more, the optimized simulation model can be used to further optimize the device parameters for different workpiece temperature distributions, or design and evaluate the new HTS DC induction heater in the future. INDEX TERMS Induction heating, high temperature superconductor (HTS), aluminum, direct current (DC), electromagnetic and thermal analysis.