ELECTRICAL HEATING

Applications
Electrical
Heating

Domestic Industrial
Domestic Purposes

 Electric toasters
 Room heaters
 Electric irons
 Electric ovens
 Immersion heaters for water heating
 Pop-corn plants
Industrial Purposes

 Melting of metals
 Moulding of glass
 Enamelling of copper wires
 Baking of insulators
 Heat treatment processes
Advantages
 Economical
 Cleanliness
 Absence of Flue Gases
 Ease of Control
 Automatic Protection
 Upper Limit of Temperature
 Special Heating Requirements
 High efficiency of Utilization
 Better Working Conditions
Modes of Transfer of Heat
 Conduction
 Convection
 Radiation
Classification of Electrical Heating
Methods
Heating Methods

Power frequency High frequency

Resistance Arc Induction Dielectric

Heating Heating Heating Heating

Direct Direct Direct

Indirect Indirect Indirect

Resistance Heating
 Works on a ohmic losses concept
 Works with low voltage and low frequency also
 DC and AC both can be used
 More efficient
 Unity power factor
 Upto 1000O C for wire resistance
Direct Resistance Heating
Cont….
 Material or charge to be heated is taken as resistance.
 The charge may be in liquid, pieces or powder form.
 Two electrodes for dc and single phase ac supply.
 Three electrodes for three phase ac supply.
 High resistance power is sprinkled over the surface of pieces.
 High efficiency as heat is produced in charge only.
 Uniform and high temperature
 Temperature control is not easy.
 Current and heating depends upon depth of immersion and
distance between electrodes.
 Alumina powder is being used to reduce the surface current so
that the uniform heating can be gain.
Indirect resistance heating
Cont…
 Current is passed through a wire or other high resistance
material forming a heating element.
 Heat is delivered to charge by one or more of the modes of
transfer of heat.
 For conduction type charge should be contact with heating
element.
 For radiation and convection type heating chamber is needed.
 Heating element is kept in a cylinder surrounded by jacket
containing the charge to provide uniform temperature.
 Automatic temperature control is possible.
 The diameter of heating element required is lowest than all
the heating methods due to convection heating.
Heating Element Materials
 High resistivity
 High melting point
 Low temperature coefficient
 Free from oxidation

 For low (<300°C) and medium (300 – 1050°C) temperature

services
 alloy of nickel and chromium (Nickel 80% and chromium
20%)
 alloy of nickel, chromium and iron (Ni 65%, Cr 15% and Fe
20%)
Reason for Failure
 Formation of Hotspot
 Oxidation and intermittency of operation
 Embrittlement due to grain growth
 Contamination and Corrosion
Arc Furnaces
 Works on a principal of electric arc or spark
 High voltage gradient ionizes the medium due to
electrostatic force phenomena and leads to formation of
spark
 High voltages is needed for formation of spark but not for
maintaining the spark
 Braking of current leads to ionizes of medium due to thermal
phenomena and leads to formation of arc
 Low voltage is also sufficient for formation of arc
 Temperature range of 1000o C to 3500o C
 Temperature range depends upon material of electrode
Direct Arc Furnace

Source: scielo South Africa webpage

Cont…
Cont…
 Charge acts as one of the electrode
 More heating as heat produce by arc as well as current passing
through charge
 In single phase system, two electrodes put vertically downward
through the roof of the furnace.
 In three phase system three electrodes put at the corners of an
equilateral triangle.
 Two types :- Direct type or Submerged type
 In submerged type, current passes from top electrode to bottom
electrode through charge which leads to better distributed
resistance heating.
 Better mixing of charge and current limitation
Cont…
 The current passing through the charge develops
electromagnetic field and leads to necessary stirring action.
 Commonly used for production of steel.
 Purer production and controlled composition compare to
cupola method.
 It can operate on 100% steel scrap which is cheaper than pig
iron.
 Power factor is about 0.8 lagging.
 Power or heating control by either varying distance between
the electrodes or by varying the voltage applied to the
electrodes.
 Cont…

Source: Odenthal, H. , Kemminger. A. , Krause. F. , Sankowski. L. , Uebber. N. and Vogl. N. (2018)

Review on Modelling and Simulation of the Electric Arc Furnace, Steel research int.
Indirect Arc Furnace

Source: www.slideshare.com/vikayraskar501
Cont…
 Arc is formed between two electrodes above the charge.
 Heat is transmitted by radiation mainly.
 Temperature of charge is less than the direct arc method
 No stirring action and the furnace should rocked
mechanically.
 Cylindrical shape furnace with the electrodes projecting
through the chamber from each end along the horizontal
axis.
 Benefits of rocking:- (1) thorough mixing of the charge (2)
Increases life of refractory lining (3) increases efficiency
Cont…
 Construction limits the number of electrodes to two
 Hence only single phase supply can be used.
 Size of furnace limits by the amount of single phase load
which can be taken from that point.
 The arc is produce by bringing the two electrodes into solid
contact then withdrawing them.
 Power control by adjusting the arc length.
 Electric motor for grinding and rolling actions.
 Advantages:- (1) Low metal losses (2) Economical (3) Sound
castings (blow holes, inclusion and segregations) (4) Flexible
Power Supply and Control
 Power requirement for arc furnace in steel plant is of about
500 kW per tonne for small furnaces and of about 200 kW
per tonne for large furnaces.
 The energy requirement is usually between 600 and 800
kWh per tonne.
 The arc voltage lies between 50 and 150 volts.
 Hence current requirement to provide this high load will be
order of several hundred or thousand amperes.
Induction heating
 Current induced by electromagnetic action in the charge
 Charge is magnetically coupled with source and works as a
short circuited secondary of a single turn.
 Power or heat depends upon induce voltage and resistance of
the charge.
 Resistance of charge should be less.
 To get high induce voltage higher flux and higher frequency
should be used.
 Magnetic material can be easily treated than non-magnetic
materials because of their higher permeability.
Cont…
 Types of Induction furnaces:
(1) Core type or low frequency induction furnace
(i) Direct core type
(ii) Vertical core type
(iii) Indirect core type
(2) Coreless type or high frequency induction furnace
Direct Induction Heating
Cont…
 Consists of an iron core, crucible of some insulating material
and primary winding connected to an ac supply.
 Charge is kept in the crucible which forms a single turn
short-circuited secondary circuit.
 The current in the charge is very high, of the order of several
thousand amperes.
Drawbacks of direct core induction
 As magnetic coupling between the primary and secondary
circuit is poor, leakage reactance is high and power factor is
low. Motor-Generator set or frequency changer is required.
 If normal frequency supply is employed for operation of such
furnaces, the electromagnetic forces cause severe stirring
action in the molten metal so low frequency supply is
needed.
 If the current density exceeds about 5 amps per mm2 the
pinch effect due to electromagnetic forces may cause
complete interruption of the secondary circuit and so of
supply.
Cont…
 For functioning of the furnace the closing of the secondary
circuit is essential which necessitates the formation of
complete ring of the charge around the core. For starting the
furnace, either molten metal is poured into the crucible or
sufficient molten metal is allowed to remain in the crucible
from the previous operation.
 Such furnaces are not suitable for intermittent services or
where different types of charges are to be melted.
Vertical core type induction furnace
Cont…
Cont…
 Improved form of direct induction heating
 Also know as Ajax Wyatt vertical core type furnace
 Employs a vertical channel instead of horizontal
 Current circulates the molten metal around the V portion
 Small quantity of charge is sufficient to keep the secondary
circuit closed
 Pinch effect is less and hence chances of interruption will be
reduced.
Cont…
 U-shaped channels or rectangular channels are also employed
 Refractory lining depends upon the charge material
 Insulating cover on the top of the furnace
 Hydraulic arrangements for tilting the furnace
 Useful for continuous operation
 Widely used for melting and refining of brass and other
heavy non-ferrous metals
 Efficiency of about 75 per cent
Advantages
 Accurate temperature control, uniform castings, reduced
metal losses
 Absence of crucibles
 Consistent performance and simple control
 Ideal working condition in a cool atmosphere with no dirt,
noise or fuel
 Absence of combustion gases
 Comparatively high power factor
Indirect core type induction furnace
 Inductively heated element transfers the heat to charge
 Consists of an iron core linking with the primary and
secondary
 Secondary consists of a metal container forming the walls of
the oven
 Temperature control without use of external control
equipment by variation in magnetic circuit
 Temperature control over 400o C to 1000o C.
 In competition with resistance oven but has comparatively
poor power factor
Coreless Induction Furnace
Cont…
Cont…
 Three main parts:- (1) primary coil (2) refractory container
(3) frame which includes supports and a tilting mechanism
 Absence of a continuous iron path for magnetic flux
 The flux created by primary winding sets up eddy currents in
the charge which tend to flow concentrically with those in
the inductor.
 Eddy currents heats up the charge and set up electromagnetic
forces for stirring action
Cont…
 Due to high frequency skin effect produces heat in the
primary winding
 So primary winding are made from hollow tube and are
cooled by circulation of water through it.
 Insulated supporting structure is employed for such furnaces
to prevent the eddy current in it and to increase the
efficiency.
Cont…
 Choice of frequency:-
(1) Size of the object
(2) Permeability
(3) Depth of penetration
(4) Resistivity of material
(5) Cost of capacitor
Advantages
 Low erection cost
 Automatic stirring action
 Absence of dirt, smoke, noise
 Control of power
 Possibility of employing vacuum heating necessary for
precious metal
 No contamination of charge