Practical design and operating characteristic analysis of a 10 kW HTS DC

induction heating machine

Jongho Choi
a
, Kwangmin Kim
a
, Minwon Park
a,
, In-Keun Yu
a
, Seokho Kim
a
, Kideok Sim
b
, Hae-jong Kim
b
a
Changwon National University, 55306 Sarim-dong, Changwon 641-773, Republic of Korea
b
Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Changwon 641-120, Republic of Korea
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 17 January 2014
Received in revised form 7 April 2014
Accepted 9 April 2014
Available online 24 April 2014
Keywords:
Cryogenic
FEM
HTS
Induction heating
No insulation
a b s t r a c t
Conventional induction heaters have been in operation in metal and related industries with poor energy
efciencies of only 5060%. Also, the efciency of atmosphere furnace, one of the various heating facilities
for metal billets, is about 20%. Hence, a high temperature superconducting (HTS) DC induction heating
machine to heat a rotating metal billet under uniform magnetic eld generated by the 2G HTS magnet
with about 8090% of the system energy efciency has been researched in this paper.
We presented practical design specication, operational characteristics, and temperature distribution
on a 10 kW class HTS DC induction heating machine which had been built and tested. The saturated tem-
perature of an HTS no-insulated(NI) coil in the cryostat fabricated with 100 A of the operating current
reached 45.9 K and the magnetic eld at the centre point between two iron cores measured 0.2 T. The
rotating machine for 4.1 kg of the aluminum billet was tested on 1760 rpm of the rated rotating speed.
The nal temperature of the aluminum billet has risen up to 500 C for 480 s. The research outcomes
are expected to be useful for the design of a large scale HTS DC induction heating machine in industries.
2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Today, induction heating technology is utilized with processing
units in industrial elds such as induction hardening, preheating,
soldering and melting. The reason induction heating is one of the
most cutting-edge technologies is that it offers several advantages.
It employs a non-contact method where the heating occurs in only
one part. The heat is generated in the skin depth of the material
and to obtain a uniform temperature distribution, thermal conduc-
tion within the billet is just considered [1].
Above all, in metallic-processing industries, induction heating
technology is applied to large systems and it is in a great demand
for improving operational efciency due to the considerable energy
loss at copper coils to generate magnetic elds [2]. An induction
furnace is a good example, as it has poor energy efciency of only
5060% and causes power quality problems due to the large induc-
tance connected to the grid [3]. Hence, the process of heating a
rotating non-ferrous metal billet under a uniform magnetic eld
generated by lossless high-temperature, superconducting (HTS)
DC magnets was recently introduced, and it has been widely
researched as a novel and innovative technology [4].
This technology leads to the energy efciency around 8090% in
a large capacity of heating system. Furthermore, there are no
power quality problems in the grid thanks to the use of a separate
direct-current source. The quality of the product in an extrusion
plant just after the preheating process is also a very important
factor, and it has a very small temperature deviation because it
operates at a lower rotational speed than conventional utilitys fre-
quencies. In addition, the productivity per hour of an HTS DC
induction heating machine is higher than one of the conventional
induction heating machine. Because its active power for heating
a billet increases much more at the same capacity owing to the
energy loss decreased. Higher productivity may be obtained by
the larger skin depth allowing for heat dissipation further into
the billet. In that way the initial power input can be increased
and the heating time per billet is reduced.
Thus, in this paper, we presented a practical design specication
and analyzed operational characteristics on the prototype: a
10 kW-class DC induction heating machine including a rotating
unit, a non-ferrous metal billet, HTS DC magnets, and a cooling sys-
tem. Further, a numerical relationship between the conversion
processes of the mechanical, electrical, and thermal energies was
proven, and the nite element method (FEM) analysis was
performed in order to evaluate the details of the machine. Then,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physc.2014.04.012
0921-4534/ 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Corresponding author. Address: 55315, Changwon National University,

Changwon 641-773, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 55 281 3150; fax: +82 55 281 3170.
E-mail addresses: jonghochoi@changwon.ac.kr (J. Choi), paku@cwnu.ac.kr
(M. Park).
Physica C 504 (2014) 120126
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a prototype-heating machine was built and tested. The saturated
temperature of an HTS NI coil in the cryostat fabricated with 100
A of the operating current reached 45.9 K, and the magnetic eld
at the center point between two iron cores measured 0.2 T. The
rotating machine for 4.1 kg of the aluminum billet was tested on
1,760 rpm of the rated rotating speed. The nal temperature of
the aluminum billet had risen up to 500 C for 480 s.
The research results are expected to be useful for the design of a
large-scale HTS DC induction heating machine in related
industries.
2. Theoretical background of DC induction heating
The heating power, P
billet
, of a DC induction heating machine is
calculated by the scalar product of the resistance, R
billet
, of the billet
and the square of the induced current, I
ind
, in the billet on the con-
dition of a rotating non-ferrous metal billet under a uniform mag-
netic eld [5].
P
billet
R
billet
I
2
ind
T
billet
R
s
1
From the formula (1), the answer is equal to the output power
of the rotating motor derived from the product of the mechanical
torque, T
billet
, and rotating speed, R
s
. The magnitude of the mechan-
ical torque, which decreases in accordance with an increase in
rotational speed, is calculated by the vector product of the position
vectors and the force applied, which depends on the magnetic eld
and the cross product of the induced current. Thus, as the applied
magnetic eld increases, a greater resistive heating power is out-
put. HTS magnets can easily generate a high magnetic eld without
any loss. This is the strongest argument for using HTS DC induction
heating to obtain high efciency and to increase capacity.
In view of the thermal relationship, the physical properties of
the non-ferrous metal billet, such as resistivity, thermal capacity,
and thermal conductivity, change as a function of its temperature.
Inside the billet, the heat is conducted to the center of the billet;
outside the billet, the thermal exchange occurs on the boundary
of the billet, where the heat is transferred to the air through ther-
mal convection and radiation [6].
Several papers have provided a numerical demonstration of the
DC induction heating method. However, it is not easy to calculate
the amount of the induced current exactly, prior to dening the
relationship with various parameters. Therefore, in this paper,
the theoretical relationship with dependent variables is shown
through FEM analysis. The resistive heating power and electrical
torque depend on the magnetic eld, rotating speed, and billet size,
such as the length and radius. These factors and characteristics,
without any thermal loss are shown in the following Figs. 14.
Fig. 1 shows resistive heating power and electrical torque with
the increasing magnetic ux density (B
ext
) from the FEM simula-
tion results, with a rotating speed of 600 rpm and an aluminumbil-
let size of 100 mm in radius and 1000 mm in length. Fig. 2 depicts
the torque and resistive heating curves with the increasing rotating
speed (rpm) from the FEM simulation results, with a magnetic eld
of 0.32 T and an aluminum billet size of 100 mm in radius and
1000 mm in length. In this case the torque does not go to innity
as the rotating speed goes to zero, but instead has a maximum at
a rather low rotating speed. Fig. 3 represents torque and resistive
heating curves with the increasing billet radius (R
w
) from the
FEM simulation results, with a rotating speed of 600 rpm, a mag-
netic eld of 0.32 T, and an aluminum billet length of 1000 mm.
Fig. 4 shows torque and resistive heating curves with the increas-
ing billet length (L
w
) from the FEM simulation results, with a rotat-
ing speed of 600 rpm, a magnetic eld of 0.248 T, and an aluminum
billet radius of 100 mm.
Fig. 1. Resistive heating power and electrical torque with the increasing magnetic
ux density (B
ext
).
Fig. 2. Torque and resistive heating curves with the increasing rotating speed
(rpm).
Fig. 3. Torque and resistive heating curves with the increasing billet radius (R
w
).
Fig. 4. Torque and resistive heating curves with the increasing billet length (L
w
).
J. Choi et al. / Physica C 504 (2014) 120126 121
3. Practical design of a 10 kW DC induction heating machine
with a 2G HTS magnet
Here, we discuss the design stage of the HTS DC induction hea-
ter. Fig. 5 shows a system block diagram of the 10 kW HTS DC
induction heating machine. We chose an aluminum billet because
it is one of the most promising materials for the future. The target
Fig. 5. A system block diagram of the 10 kW HTS DC induction heating machine.
Fig. 6. Design ow chart of 10 kW class DC induction heating machine with HTS
magnets.
Table 1
Design specication of a 10 kW HTS DC induction heating machine.
The side of HTS coil The side of a billet and rotating machine
Parameters Value Parameters Value
HTS tape maker SuNam, Korea Billet material Aluminum
HTS tape width 4.1 (0.1) mm Diameter of the billet 80 mm
HTS tape thickness 100 (15) lm Length of the billet 300 mm
Critical current of the HTS tape at 77 K, under the
self-eld
P117 A (copper laminated) Weight of the billet 4.1 kg
HTS coil type No insulation, racetrack, a single pancake, and iron
cored
Induction motor capacity 11 kW
Inner radius 93.5 mm Rotating speed (motor rated speed) 1760 rpm
Number of turns 295 turns Electrical torque 53 N m
Total length of the HTS tape 378 m Resistive heating power at the initial
4 s
10.1 kW
Straight length of the HTS coil 300 mm Target temperature 773.15 K
(500 C)
Iron core JIS St10 (steel) Target temp. deviation 5 K
HTS coil inductance 70.7 mH without iron core Target heating time 180 s
Target magnetic eld with an iron core 0.3 T at the operating current (I
op
= 120 A 0.8 I
c
) Penetration depth at 293.15 K 39 mm
HTS coil inductance 70.7 mH without iron core Emissivity of aluminum (heavily
oxidized)
0.5
Fig. 7. The magnetic ux density distribution of the machine at 120 A of the
operating current 3D FEM analysis model.
122 J. Choi et al. / Physica C 504 (2014) 120126
capacity, temperature, and heating time were determined as
10 kW class, 500 C, and below 180 s, respectively, considering
the actual fabrication specics of the HTS DC induction heating
machine prototype from the laboratory. The target temperature
deviation was below 5%. The ow chart of the design process is
presented in Fig. 6.
3.1. System specications of a 10 kW HTS DC induction heating
machine
Through practical design, we succeeded in making the system
specications of a 10 kW HTS DC induction heating machine in
the laboratory, as shown in Table 1. We designed the HTS coil using
a non-insulated method with the 2G HTS tape of SuNam in Korea.
3.2. FEM results through 2D and 3D FEM analysis models
In order to analyze the electrical, magnetic, and thermal inter-
connection, we developed 2D and 3D FEM analysis models, as
shown in Fig. 7, and we demonstrated the operating characteristics
of the HTS DC induction heating machine. Fig. 8 shows the output
characteristics. Initially, the resistive heating power of the billet
was about 10 kW same to the target power. However, the resistive
heating power was kept at over 10 kW during heating, and the
maximum output power of about 300 C was achieved. This means
that the resistive heating power depends on the product of the
square of the induced current and the impedance with time-vary-
ing characteristics, as the resistivity of the aluminum increases
with the function of the temperature.
Fig. 8. Resistive heating power and temperature distribution curve of the heating machine for 180 s.
Fig. 9. The composition of the fabricated 10 kW HTS DC induction heating machine.
Fig. 10a. The magnetic ux density, B
x
component, of the HTS coil without an iron core by operating currents from the 3D FEM model.
J. Choi et al. / Physica C 504 (2014) 120126 123
4. Fabrication and performance test of a 10 kW HTS DC
induction heating machine
The prototype 10 kW HTS DC induction heating machine was
fabricated with an HTS coil, a cryogenic cooling unit, and a rotating
machine with an aluminum billet, as seen in Fig. 9.
4.1. Current owing test of the non-insulated HTS coil in LN
2
The coil was wound with HTS wire laminated copper using the
non-insulated method, which has the best thermal stability in the
HTS magnet operation [7,8]. The minimum critical current of the
HTS tape was 117 A at 77 K in the self-eld. This racetrack-type
Fig. 10b. The voltage between two terminals and magnetic elds at the three points inside the HTS coil fabricated under LN
2
test.
Fig. 11a. The look of the experimental implementation to cool down the HTS coil in the cryostat.
Fig. 11b. The temperature curves of the cryo-cooler and HTS coil during the cool down test.
124 J. Choi et al. / Physica C 504 (2014) 120126
coil was tested in a bath of the LN
2
at 77 K. The voltage and mag-
netic eld characteristics, according to increasing operating cur-
rents of the fabricated coil, are expressed in Fig. 10.
4.2. Cool-down test with cryogenic cooling unit
The cryogenic cooling unit was fabricated and tested with the
conduction cooling system by installing RDK-415D, a cryo-cooler,
as shown in Fig. 11. The saturated temperature after the cooling
was 43.6 K at the bottom of the HTS coil. After the cool down test,
we supplied the current to the HTS coil and checked the terminal
voltage and temperature of the HTS coil, as well as the magnetic
eld emerging from the iron core of the aluminum billet. The
results are shown in Fig. 12.
4.3. Operational results of the 10 kW DC induction heating machine
The 11 kW induction motor was used for rotating an aluminum
billet. When the operating current was 100 A at 45.9 K of the satu-
rated temperature of the HTS coil, which is 80% of the critical cur-
rent of the HTS coil, the magnetic eld at the center of the
aluminumbillet was 0.2 T. The rotating speed of the billet was con-
trolled at 1760 rpm with the motor rated speed by using a 10 kW-
class inverter. The nal temperature inside the billet reached
500 C after 480 s of the operation time, depicted as the following
of Fig. 13 and Fig. 14.
5. Conclusions
The actual fabrication of the machine, the output characteris-
tics, and the operational results of the designed machine were
Fig. 12. (a) The magnetic eld at the center of the aluminum billet and the operating current curve fowing into the HTS coil; and (b) the critical current curve of the fabricated
HTS NI coil and the major temperature curves of the cryo-cooling system according to the operation current.
Fig. 13. The temperature curve of the heating machine for 480 s, operation time.
Fig. 14. (a) The look of the experimental implementation; and (b) thermal image according to the billet temperature distribution.
J. Choi et al. / Physica C 504 (2014) 120126 125
demonstrated through the analysis of a 2D and 3D FEM models.
The appropriateness of the design process was demonstrated
through the simulated and real operational results. However, the
resistive heating power of HTS DC induction heating machine has
not yet generated 10 kW, because 0.2 T of the magnetic ux den-
sity of the fabricated machine was lower than 0.3 T, the target
magnetic ux density on the design stage. The operating results,
including the system efciency and temperature deviation in com-
parison with those of the FEM analysis model, will be provided in a
forthcoming paper.
As mentioned before, HTS magnets facilitate the generation of a
high magnetic eld without any loss. This heating method is
advantageous due to its high efciency and ability to be scaled to
a larger capacity. These research results are expected to assist con-
siderably with application in industrial extrusion plants.
Acknowledgment
Following are results of a study on the Leaders INdustry-uni-
versity Cooperation Project, supported by the Ministry of Educa-
tion (MOE).
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