Automatic Frequency Control of an Induction Furnace

Irshad Khan Jonathan Tapson Ian de Vries

School of Electrical
Engineering Cape Technikon
P.O. Box 652 Cape Town, 8000
South Africa
Ikhan@norton.ctech.ac.zu
Dept. of Electrical Engineering
University of Cape Town
Rondebosch 770 1
Cape Town South Africa
Jtapsoni4eleceng. uct.uc.za
Dept. of Electrical Engineering
University of Cape Town
Rondebosch 770 1
Cape Town South Africa
Idevries(3eleceng. uct.a c m

Abstract: Automatic frequency control enables
a variable induction heating load to be driven at
its resonant frequency, ensuring maximum
power transfer to the load throughout the
heating cycle. Analysis and experimental results
of the resonance locked-loop are presented to
illustrate the performance of the system.
1. Introduction
Induction heating loads have a relatively poor
power factor (typically < 0.3 lag) [l]. For this
reason the load is resonated to facilitate unity
power factor and ensure maximum power transfer
to the load. Operating at resonance also has the
advantage of ensuring reduced switching losses in
the power source, thereby allowing high conversion
efficiencies. The metals heated in the induction
furnace have different electrical properties (such as
conductivity and permeability). These properties
affect the loading in the induction-heating coil,
which causes the resonant frequency of the tank
circuit to change [2].
Experimentation into the adjustment of the tank
circuit bandwidth has allowed stable operation in
open-loop mode, which provided a temporary
solution [3]. However, the stability of the system
was challenged when heating metals with different
or variable electrical characteristics. Automatic
frequency control of the power source enables
continuous operation at the natural resonant
frequency of the tank circuit, resulting in a high
conversion efficiency and maximum power transfer
to the load throughout the heating cycle. The
control system proposed should be capable of
monitoring the input power factor of the tank
circuit and respond accordingly by adjusting the
driving frequency in order to keep the induction
heating load at resonance.
2. Background
A high frequency power source, which employed a
Current-Source Inverter (CSI), was used to drive a
parallel resonant induction-heating load [3]. The
work-piece geometry, conductivity and
permeability of different metals tend to change the
inductance of the heating coil when inserted into it.
Considering the fact that the resonant capacitance
is fixed, the tank circuit is driven to its new
resonant frequency by changing the switching
frequency of the power source. The resonance-
locked loop implemented has an operating range of
135kHz (85kHz - 220kHz).
Most control systems for induction heating power
sources utilise phase locked loops [4] and [5].
These systems operate by locking the driving
voltage and driving current to the load in phase.
Not all systems are fully automatic and require
some manual tuning to set up the capture range for
lock in operation [4]. The voltage and current
signals to be locked in phase have to be derived
from the power source. Measuring the driving
current to the load requires the insertion of a
current transformer. At frequencies above 5OkHz
this is undesirable because the insertion of a current
transformer introduces unwanted stray inductance
into the current path. This often leads to
uncontrolled oscillations, which results in poor
inverter performance. A compact inverter layout
can be employed to minimise the effects of stray
inductance, but it becomes more difficult to
achieve this goal at elevated operating frequencies
and higher power levels [6]. A special filter could
also be designed to overcome the problem of
parasitic oscillations [7]. A filter of this nature
would require extra components and would
compromise the stability and efficiency of the
system. The phase lock technique employed for
this research follows a similar approach, which
eliminates the need for current measurement.
3. Problem Statement
Induction heating of various metals causes a
change in the natural resonant frequency of the tank
circuit. This phenomenon is attributed to a change
in the inductance of the heating coil when a work-
piece is inserted into it. This effect is commonly
referred to as loading [2]. The electrical properties
of the work-piece such as permeability,
conductivity and coupling coefficient are
responsible for this change in inductance. Resonant
frequencies for various metals, which were heated
in the prototype induction furnace, are shown in
table 1.

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Table. 1:Resonant frequencies for various metals at room
temperature, when placed in the prototype induction furnace
The inner diameter of the heating coil is
approximately 14mm. The natural resonant
frequency of the tank circuit with the coil not
loaded was 148kHz. It was observed that when a
- high conductivity, closely coupled metal (copper)
is inserted into the coil, it causes the inductance of
the tank circuit to decrease. This results in a shift in
resonance, which means that the tank circuit must
now be resonated at a higher frequency. When a
steel work-piece is inserted into the coil its
magnetic properties (permeability) tends to
increase the inductance of the tank circuit, causing
its resonant frequency to decrease.
It was therefore realised, that if an induction
heating system were to have a good operating
efficiency at all times, it would have to able to find
and track the natural resonant frequency of the tank
circuit under varying load conditions.
4. SystemDescriution
The induction furnace comprises the following
basic components as shown in figure 1.
4.1 Inverter
The inverter circuit comprises the following:
0 IkW / 250kHz Current-Fed power MOSFET
inverter
0 High and low side, gate driver circuitry,
incorporating the IR2113 [3]
4.2 -Load Circuit
The induction-heating load forms part of a parallel
resonant circuit, which is continuously driven at its
natural resonant frequency by the inverter.
- -
LOAD
CONROL
INVERTER
CIRCUIT CIRCUIT
I I
I I
Fig. 1: Simplified schematic of the Induction Furnace
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The idealised equivalent circuit model for the
induction-heatingload is shown in figure 2.
Fig.2: Equivalent circuit for induction heating load
The expression for the complex impedance of
figure 2 at any frequency (flis given by [SI:
where:
Rp = Equivalent resistance of the tank circuit as
seen by the source,
Qp = Quality factor of the tank circuit,
fo = Natural resonant frequency of the tank circuit.
It is evident that at a frequency f = fo, the
impedance of the tank circuit Z f l = Rp. At this
frequency the phase displacement between the
driving voltage and current to the tank circuit is
equal to zero. This implies that maximum real
power transfer is taking place. This maximum
operating point is where the induction furnace
should operate at all times. Figure 3 shows the
complex impedance magnitude vs. frequency plots
for three conditions namely:
0 Coil unloaded (no work-piece)
e Copper work-piece in coil
0 Steel work-piece in coil
Figure 3 shows the resonant frequencies,& for an
unloaded coil, fi for a copper work-piece andf, for
a steel work-piece placed in the coil. The unloaded
coil resonates at approximately-148kHz, and has a
Q of approximately 18.
When a steel work-piece is inserted into the coil,
the inductance of the coil increases, changing the Q
of the tank circuit as well as its resonant frequency.
If the induction furnace were to run in open loop, at
frequency fo with a steel work-piece, the system
would be operating at point A on the steel work-
piece curve. Operation at point A results in a
reduction of power transfer to the load since point
A is relatively close to the 3dB (1/2 power) point
on this curve. When a copper work-piece is
inserted into coil, the system operates at point B on
the copper work-piece curve. With no frequency-
tuning present, operation at point B would result in
very little power transfer to the copper work-piece.
Another drawback of operating at points A (steel)
0 1999 IEEE
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lmlaaded
-heatingad
160 IKI m m 243
Fig. 3: Frequency response for the induction heating tan
circuit. The unloaded coil has a relatively high Q
(approximately 18). When the coil is loaded the Q tends
to decrease (8.25 for copper and 2.56 for steel). The
resonance locked loop tracks the operating points J,, fi
and fi for different load conditions and therefore
maintains maximum real power transfer to the load
throughout the heating cycle.
and B (copper), is that significant switching losses
develop in the power source when driving a load
off resonance [3], [4] and [5]. The resonance
locked loop therefore tracks the optimum operating
poinbf0,fi and& for different loading in the coil.
4.3 Control circuit
The system proposed did not utilise the
measurement of current and therefore eliminated
the need for a current transformer. Sampling of the
control signal (gate-voltage) to the power
semiconductors was used to represent the phase
relation of the driving current. The voltage signal
was measured by means of a ferrite transformer.
Automatic frequency control for this research
project was achieved by locking the gate voltage of
a power MOSFET to the driving voltage across the
tank circuit. The gate voltage is used as a phase
representative of the driving current to the load.
4.3.1 Resonance Locked-Loop
The control system for the induction hrnace
comprises essentially of two phase locked loops as
shown in figure 4. PD 1 is a type 1, exclusive-OR
phase detector derived form the MC14046 PLL
chip. Loop 1 operates as an active filter and is used
to generate a 90' phase-shift in the current sample,
waveform B. The phase-shifted current sample
waveform is now multiplied by the tank circuit
. 0-7803-5546-6/99/$10.00 0 1999 IEEE
I
I
--r U
(Loop21 U J
Fig. 4: Simplified schematic representation of the
resonance locked-loop comprising two phase locked-loops
(Loop 1 and Loop2). Loop 1 comprises an active filter
which and is used to generate a 90" phase-shift in
waveform B. Loop 2 comprises another active filter and is
used generate a 90' phase-shift in waveform A. The AGC
is used to supply a fixed amplitude signal to PD 2.
voltage (waveform A) in phase detector 2 (PD2).
PD 2 incorporates the AD633 4-quadrant analog
multiplier. PD 2 operates by locking the phase-
shifted current sample 90" out of phase with the
voltage waveform A. The 90" phase shift method
was employed in order to ensure operation in the
phase detectors (PD 1 and PD 2) linear region [9].
This operation locks waveforms A and C 180' out
of phase. The result is a relative zero phase shift
(anti-phase) between waveforms A and C. VCO 1
and VCO 2 are derived from two MC14046 PLL
chips.
The automatic gain control stage (AGC) is used to
convey a fixed amplitude signal to PD 2. Under
different load conditions the Q of the tank circuit
changes (figure 3), resulting in an amplitude
change at a specific resonant frequency. Another
reason for employing an AGC is to allow the
induction furnace to operate at reduced power
levels. It was found that by changing the amplitude
of waveform A, an offset phase error was produced
in PD 2 (analog multiplier) which caused the loop
to lock incorrectly. The AGC which incorporated
the VCA610 was used to hold the amplitude of
waveform A constant over the operating range of
the induction furnace, hence produced no offset
phase error in the multiplier.
5. Experimental results
The resonance locked loop was tested on the
prototype induction furnace, which was used to
melt copper and gold at 1kW. It was found that the
system held the load at resonance throughout the
heating cycle with no frequency drift or instability
occurring over the operating frequency range (85k
-220kHz). Figure 5 shows the system in lock with
the coil unloaded. Trace 1 is the transformed signal
(waveform A) of a 4OOVp-p
915
 6. Conclusions

The automatic frequency control system has been

.,
....
Fig. 5 : Current (trace 2) and voltage (trace 1
waveforms IoFked 180” out of phase to hold the tank
circuit at resonance when operating the prototype
induction furnace.
voltage applied to the tank circuit at resonance.
Trace 2 represents the 90” phase shifted current
sample of loop 1 which is now 180’ out of phase
with waveform A. When different loading occurs,
the resonance locked-loop will change the driving
frequency of the power source to maintain lock,
between the current sample (waveform A) and the
tank circuit voltage (waveform B) over its full
operating range (85kHz-220kHz).
successfully implemented and the induction
furnace has been tested on a number of different
metals. The rapid frequency changes that occurred
when heating steel have proven that the resonance
locked-loop can track fast changes and maintain
lock at the natural resonant frequency of the tank
circuit. The implementation of the resonance
... ... ...
... ... ...
locked-loop eliminates the need for manual tuning
and provides for a more accurate and effective
means of closed loop control, and provides
maximum power transfer to the load at all times.
Current research is underway to melt platinum
slugs (20g), which would test the system’s stability
at higher output power levels. The resonance
locked-loop was therefore found to be suitable for
the application of automatic frequency control of
the prototype induction furnace.
7. References
[l] L. Hobson, and D.W. Tebb,
“Transistorized power supplies for induction”, Int.
J. Electronics, vol. 59, No. 5, June 1985, pp. 543-
552.
[2] D. L. Loveless, “An Overview of Solid-
State Power Supplies for Induction Heating,” Metal
Production, vol. 33, August 1995.
[3] I. Khan, A Miniature High Frequency
Induction Furnace,” BTech. Thesis, School of
Electrical Engineering, Cape Technikon, November
1998.
[4] M. Kamli, S . Yamamoto, and M. Abe, “A
50- 150 kHz Half-Bridge Inverter for Induction
Heating Applications,” IEEE Transactions on
Industrial Electronics, vol. 43, No. 1, February
1996, pp. 163-172.
[5] J. M. Ho and F. C. Juang, “A Practical
PWM Inverter Control Circuitry for Induction
Heating and Studying of the Performance under

\
r
Load Variations”, Proc. IEEE Conf, International
Symposium on Industrial Electronics, vol. 1, July
1998, pp. 294-299.
[6] I. Khan, J. Tapson and I. de Vries, “An
185 Induction Furnace Employing a lOOkHz MOSFET
Start of Curie Full-Bridge Current-Source Load Resonant
transition Inverter”, Proc. IEEE Con$, International
Symposium on Industrial Electronics, vol. 2, July

tiL-
P
U

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0
135

’25
115

105

95 . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1998, pp. 530-534.
[7] D.W. Tebb and L. Hobson, “Suppression
of Drain-Source Ringing in lOOkHz MOSFET
Induction Heating Power Supply”, Electronics
Letters, vol. 22, No. 1, January 1986, pp. 7-8.
[8] P. Young, Electronic Communication
Techniques, Englewood Cliffs, Macmillan, 1994.
[9] D. H. Wolaver, Phase-Locked Loop
Circuit Design, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 1991.

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