EE3029D Electric Power Utilization

MODULE 02

Reference Books:

1. Taylor E Openshaw, Utilisation of Electric Energy, Orient Longman,1986.

2. J B Gupta, Utilization of electric power and electric traction, S K Kataria & Sons, 2002.
Electric Heating

Electric heating is extensively used both for domestic and industrial applications. Domestic applications include (i)
room heaters (ii) immersion heaters for water heating (iii) hot plates for cooking (iv) electric kettles (v) electric irons
(vi) pop-corn plants (vii) electric ovens for bakeries and (viii) electric toasters etc.
Industrial applications of electric heating include (i) melting of metals (ii) heat treatment of metals like annealing,
tempering, soldering and brazing etc. (iii) moulding of glass (iv) baking of insulators (v) enamelling of copper wires
etc.

Basically, heat is produced due to the circulation of current through a resistance. The current may circulate directly
due to the application of potential difference or it may be due to induced eddy currents. Similarly, in magnetic
materials, hysteresis losses are used to create heat. In dielectric heating, molecular friction is employed for heating
the substance. An arc established between an electrode and the material to be heated can be made a source of heat.
Bombarding the surface of material by high energy particles can be used to heat the body.

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Electric Heating

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Electric Heating
Direct Resistance Heating

In this method the material (or charge) to be heated

is treated as a resistance and current is passed
through it. The charge may be in the form of powder,
small solid pieces or liquid. The two electrodes are
inserted in the charge and connected to either a.c. or
d.c. supply. Obviously, two electrodes will be required
in the case of d.c. or single-phase a.c. supply but
there would be three electrodes in the case of 3-
phase supply. When the charge is in the form of small
pieces, a powder of high resistivity material is
sprinkled over the surface of the charge to avoid
direct short circuit. Heat is produced when current
passes through it. This method of heating has high
efficiency because the heat is produced in the charge
itself.

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Electric Heating

Indirect Resistance Heating

In this method of heating, electric current is

passed through a resistance element which placed
in an electric oven. Heat produced is proportional
to I2R losses in the heating element. The heat so
produced is delivered to the charge either by
radiation or convection or by a combination of the
two.
Sometimes, resistance is placed in a cylinder
which is surrounded by the charge placed in the
jacket as shown in the Fig. This arrangement
provides uniform temperature. Moreover,
automatic temperature control can also be
provided.

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Electric Heating
Requirement of a Good Heating Element
Indirect resistance furnaces use many different types of heating elements for producing heat. A good heating element
should have the following properties :
(1) High Specific Resistance. When specific resistance of the material of the wire is high, only short length of it will be
required for a particular resistance (and hence heat) or for the same length of the wire and the currrent, heat produced will
be more.
(2) High Melting Temperature. If the melting temperature of the heating element is high, it would be possible to obtain
higher operating temperatures.
(3) Low Temperature Coefficient of Resistance. In case the material has low temperature coefficient of resistance, there
would be only small variations in its resistance over its normal range of temperature. Hence, the current drawn by the
heating element when cold (i.e., at start) would be practically the same when it is hot.
(4) High Oxidising Temperature. Oxidisation temperature of the heating element should be high in order to ensure longer
life.
(5) Positive Temperature Coefficient of Resistance. If the temperature coefficient of the resistance of heating element is
negative, its resistance will decrease with rise in temperature and it will draw more current which will produce more
wattage and hence heat. With more heat, the resistance will decrease further resulting in instability of operation.
(6) Ductile. Since the material of the heating elements has to have convenient shapes and sizes, it should have high ductility
and flexibility.
(7) Mechanical Strength. The material of the heating element should posses high mechanical strength of its own. Usually,
different types of alloys are used to get different operating temperatures. For example maximum working temperature of
constant an (45% Ni, 55% Cu) is 400°C, that of nichrome (50%, Ni 20% Cr) is 1150°C, that of Kantha (70% Fe, 25% Cr, 5% Al)
is 1200° C and that of silicon carbide is 1450°C.Module 02 _ EE3029D Electric Power Utilization 6
Electric Heating
Resistance Furnaces or Ovens

These are suitably-insulated closed chambers with a provision for ventilation and are used for a wide variety of
purposes including heat treatment of metals like annealing and hardening etc., stoving of enamelled wares, drying and
baking of potteries, vulcanizing and hardening of synthetic materials and for commercial and domestic heating.
Temperatures upto 1000°C can be obtained by using heating elements made of nickel, chromium and iron. Ovens using
heating elements made of graphite can produce temperatures upto 3000°C. Heating elements may consist of circular
wires or rectangular ribbons. The ovens are usually made of a metal framework having an internal lining of fire bricks.
The heating element may be located on the top, bottom or sides of the oven. The nature of the insulating material is
determined by the maximum temperature required in the oven.

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Electric Heating Temperature Control of Resistance Furnaces

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Electric Heating
Design of Heating Element
Under steady-state conditions, a heating element dissipates as much heat from its surface as it receives the power from
the electric supply. If P is the power input and H is the heat dissipated by radiation, then P = H under steady-state
conditions. As per Stefan’s law of radiation, heat radiated by a hot body is given by

heat dissipated by radiation per second per unit

surface area of the wire

where T1 is the temperature of hot body in °K and T2 that of the cold body (or cold surroundings) in °K

e: Emmissivity K: Radiating efficiency

Assuming heating element as wires of

circular cross-section
4 P
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Electric Heating

Total surface area of the wire of the element = (πd) × l

If H is the heat dissipated by radiation per second per unit surface area of the wire, then heat radiated per second

Ribbon Type Element

If w is the width of the ribbon and t its thickness, then

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Electric Heating

Heat lost from ribbon surface = 2wl H (neglecting the side area 2tl )

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Electric Heating
Question 1
A resistance oven employing nichrome wire is to be operated from 220 V single-phase supply and is to be rated at 16
kW. If the temperature of the element is to be limited to 1,170°C and average temperature of the charge is 500°C, find
the diameter and length of the element wire.

Radiating efficiency = 0.57, Emmissivity=0.9, Specific resistance of nichrome=(109 ×10–8) ohm-m.

Question 2
A 30-kW, 3-φ, 400-V resistance oven is to employ nickel-chrome strip 0.254 mm thick for the three star-connected heating
elements. If the wire temperature is to be 1,100°C and that of the charge to be 700°C, estimate a suitable width for the
strip.
Assume emissivity = 0.9 and radiating efficiency to be 0.5 and resistivity of the strip material is 101.6 × 10–8 Ω - m.

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Arc Furnace
Direct Arc Furnace

It is possible to obtain high temperatures in such furnaces. Moreover, it produces uniform heating of charge
without stirring it mechanically.

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Arc Furnace
Indirect Arc Furnace

Since no current passes through the body of the

charge, there is no inherent stirring action due
to electro-magnetic forces set up by the current.
Hence, such furnaces have to be rocked
continuously in order to distribute heat
uniformly by exposing different layers of the
charge to the heat of the arc. An electric motor
is used to operate suitable grinders and rollers
to impart rocking motion to the furnace.

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Arc Furnace
Direct Arc Furnace

Energy required to melt ‘m’ tonnes of steel = ms (t2 – t1) + mL

s: specific heat of steel

L: latent heat of steel

t2: melting point of steel

t1: initial temperature of steel

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Arc Furnace
Question 1:
A 4-phase electric arc furnace has the following data :
Current drawn = 5000 A ; Arc voltage = 50 V
Resistance of transformer referred to secondary = 0.002 Ω
Reactance of transformer referred to secondary = 0.004 Ω
(i) Calculate the power factor and kW drawn from the supply.
(ii) If the overall efficiency of the furnace is 65%, find the time required to melt 2 tonnes of steel if latent heat of
steel = 8.89 kcal/kg, specific heat of steel = 0.12, melting point of steel = 1370°C and initial temperature of steel =
20°C.

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Induction Furnace

This heating process makes use of the currents induced by the electro-magnetic action in the charge to be heated. In
fact, induction heating is based on the principle of transformer working. The primary winding which is supplied from
an a.c. source is magnetically coupled to the charge which acts as a short circuited secondary of single turn.

Core Type Induction Furnace

The pinch effect in a core type induction

furnace happens when the current density
exceeds 5 amps/mm2. This causes the
electromagnetic force to act from the
circumference to the center, which causes the
cross-section of the liquid conductor to
contract. This contraction results in the
formation of bubbles and voids.

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Induction Furnace

Vertical Core-Type Induction Furnace

It is also known as Ajax-Wyatt furnace and represents an

improvement over the core-type furnace discussed above. As shown
in Fig., it has vertical channel (instead of a horizontal one) for the
charge, so that the crucible used is also vertical which is convenient
from metallurgical point of view. In this furnace, magnetic coupling
is comparatively better and power factor is high. Hence, it can be
operated from normal frequency supply. The circulation of the
molten metal is kept up round the Vee portion by convection
currents as shown in Fig

As Vee channel is narrow, even a small quantity of charge is sufficient

to keep the secondary circuit closed. However, Vee channel must be
kept full of charge in order to maintain continuity of secondary circuit.
This fact makes this furnace suitable for continuous operation. The
tendency of the secondary circuit to rupture due to pinch-effect is
counteracted by the weight of the charge in the crucible.
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Induction Furnace
Indirect Core-Type Induction Furnace

In this furnace, a suitable element is heated by induction which, in turn, transfers the heat to the charge by radiation. So
far as the charge is concerned, the conditions are similar to those in a resistance oven.

The secondary consists of a

metal container which forms
the walls of the furnace
proper. The primary winding is
magnetically coupled to this
secondary by an iron core.
When primary winding is
connected to AC supply,
secondary current is induced
in the metal container by
transformer action which
heats up the container. The
metal container transfers this
heat to the charge.

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Induction Furnace
Coreless Induction Furnace
As shown in Fig., the three main parts of the furnace are (i) primary coil (ii) a
ceramic crucible containing charge which forms the secondary and (iii) the frame
which includes supports and tilting mechanism. The distinctive feature of this
furnace is that it contains no heavy iron core with the result that there is no
continuous path for the magnetic flux. The crucible and the coil are relatively light
in construction and can be conveniently tilted for pouring. The charge is put into
the crucible and primary winding is connected to a high-frequency a.c. supply. The
flux produce by the primary sets up eddy-currents in the charge and heats it up to
the melting point. The charge need not be in the molten state at the start as was
required by core-type furnaces. The eddy- currents also set up electromotive forces
which produce stirring action which is essential for obtaining uniforms quality of
metal. Since flux density is low (due to the absence of the magntic core) high
frequency supply has to be used because eddy-current loss We ∝ B2 f2. However,
this high frequency increases the resistance of the primary winding due to skin
effect, thereby increasing primary Cu losses. Hence, the primary winding is not
made of Cu wire but consists of hollow Cu tubes which are cooled by water
circulating through them.

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Induction Furnace

Question 1:
Determine the efficiency of a high-frequency induction furnace which takes 10 minutes to melt 2 kg of a
aluminium initially at a temperature of 20°C. The power drawn by the furnace is 5 kW, specific heat of
aluminium = 0.212, melting point of alumimium = 660° C and latent heat of fusion of alumimium. = 77 kcal/kg.

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High frequency eddy current heating

For heating an article by eddy-currents, it is placed

inside a high frequency a.c. current-carrying coil. The
alternating magnetic field produced by the coil sets up
eddy-currents in the article which, consequently, gets
heated up. Such a coil is known as heater coil or work
coil and the material to be heated is known as charge or
load. Primarily, it is the eddy-current loss which is
responsible for the production of heat although
hysteresis loss also contributes to some extent in the
case of non-magnetic materials.

The eddy-current loss We ∝ B² ƒ2. Hence, this loss can be controlled by controlling flux density B and the supply
frequency ƒ. This loss is greatest on the surface of the material but decreases as we go deep inside. The depth of the
material upto which the eddy-current loss penetrates given by

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Dielectric heating
It is also called high-frequency capacitative heating and is used for heating insulators like wood, plastics and ceramics etc.
which cannot be heated easily and uniformly by other methods. The supply frequency required for dielectric heating is
between 10-50 MHz and the applied voltage is upto 20 kV. The overall efficiency of dielectric heating is about 50%.
Dielectric Loss
When a practical capacitor is connected across an a.c. supply, it draws a current which leads the voltage by an angle φ, which
is a little less than 90° or falls short of 90° by an angle δ. It means that there is a certain component of the current which is in
phase with the voltage and hence produces some loss called dielectric loss. At the normal supply frequency of 50 Hz, this loss
is negligibly small but at higher frequencies of 50 MHz or so, this loss becomes so large that it is sufficient to heat the
dielectric in which it takes place. The insulating material to be heated is placed between two conducting plates in order to
form a parallel-plate capacitor as shown in Fig.

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Dielectric heating

This power is converted into heat. Since for a given insulator material, C and δ are constant, the dielectric loss is
directly proportional to V2 f. That is why high-frequency voltage is used in dielectric heating. Generally, a.c. voltage of
about 20 kV at a frequency of 10-30 MHz is used.

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Domestic water heaters

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Domestic water heaters
Outer Jacket - The outer jacket of an electric water heater
consists of three pieces: the jacket top, jacket skirt and jacket
bottom. The jacket provides a space for insulation around the
tank, preventing the consumer from coming into contact with
hot surfaces and to reduce energy loss. Connections extend
from the tank through the outer jacket to provide plumbing
connections for the cold water inlet and the hot water outlet.

Glass Lined Tank – A water heater tank is constructed of three

pieces of steel: a top head, a bottom head and a shell. These
three pieces are welded together to form a tank that will
withstand a working pressure of 150 pounds per square inch.
The interior of the tank is coated with glass lining, baked on at
about 1600°F, which will not break or crack, unless it receives a
blow severe enough to dent the steel tank. This coating helps
protect the tank from the corrosive effects of hot water.

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Domestic water heaters

Insulation - Between the tank and the outer jacket is a layer of

insulation. Three materials are used as insulation in water
heaters: CFC free polyurethane foam, fiberglass and polyester.
Polyurethane foam is the more efficient of these materials and
is injected through a port in the outer jacket in liquid form. This
liquid expands quickly filling in the space between the tank and
jacket and then dries. Polyester or fiber-glass is used around all
openings and controls to ensure that the polyurethane foam
does not cover these devices.

Element - The element consists of an inner wire surrounded by

filler material enclosed in a sheath of copper or stainless steel.
The thermostat allows electrical current to flow through the
inner wire and from the wire’s resistance it also creates heat
which is transferred through the filler material to the outer
sheath and is then absorbed by the water. Elements may be
available in different wattages and materials to meet specific
heating requirements
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Domestic water heaters
Control Circuit - The standard single-phase control circuit
consists of a high limit control switch with a reset button, upper
thermostat, lower thermostat, two heating elements and wires.
The upper thermostat first sends electrical energy to the upper
element until the water temperature in the upper third of the
tank reaches the thermostat setting. Power is then transferred
to the lower element until the remaining water reaches the
lower thermostat setting. If the water temperature exceeds
170°F the high limit control switch will trip shutting off power
to the elements. Single element water heaters have one
element mounted at the bottom of the tank controlled by a
single thermostat and high limit switch.

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Domestic water heaters

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Domestic water heaters

Anode Rod - The anode rod is a sacrificial part installed to

reduce tank corrosion. A tank full of hot water acts very much
like a battery with small electrical currents flowing between the
different types of metals. The anode rod is made of aluminum,
magnesium or an aluminum zinc alloy which is more conductive
than the steel of the tank. The electrical currents corrode the
anode rod ra-ther than the tank depending on the water.

Dip Tube - The dip tube moves incoming cold water to the bottom of the tank.
This process sometimes causes condensation of flue gasses to occur which can
cause a sizzling sound when water droplets fall onto the burner below. This
occurrence is not detrimental to the operation of the water heater.

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Domestic water heaters

T&P Valve - The T&P, or temper-ature and pressure relief valve, is a safety device designed to
relieve excessive pressure on the tank helping to prevent it from exceeding 150 PSI of
pressure.
This valve also activates to cool the tank by discharging water if the temperature inside the
tank reaches 210°F. The T&P valve must never be altered, restricted, or blocked as this creates
a hazardous situation where the tank could build up pressure and possibly burst.

Drain Valve - The child-resistant drain valve is located near the bottom of the water heater
and provides a way to drain the water from the heater for maintenance purposes.

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For further tutorials and other topics,
Refer Class Note and Reference Books

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