Issues for Energy Saving Solutions for Industry using Innovative Induction Heating

In industry, induction heating is often considered as a Best Available Technology (BAT). It often has a high energy efficiency with a good quality of the final products. This paper summarizes the main developments of this technology during the last decade for improving the energy efficiency and the current research axes to increase the dissemination of the technology. The energy management in industrial processes takes into account the complete optimization of the fabrication line including induction heating coupled with other heating elements. Two examples are presented: the hybrid process line in the steel industry and the energy management in a melting shop. Innovative components of the induction devices are developed to increase their intrinsic energy efficiency and so the global one. Auto-adaptive multi-coil inverters can adapt the power distribution in the work-piece to be heated with an optimised energy consumption. Low losses coils reduce the Joule losses inside the inductor and improve the heat treatment efficiency, specially on non ferrous metals. The aim of the energy recovery is to collect the remaining losses for a reuse in the plant. Innovative induction solutions for saving energy are presented in different solid and liquid heating processes: auto-adaptive control in forging lines, semi-warm forging, auto-adaptive control in flat product heating, simultaneous dual frequency contour hardening process, heating of Al billet rotating in a DC superconducting magnet, Cold crucible for high melting point metals, electromagnetic stirring devices in conventional induction furnaces, electromagnetic actuators.