UTILIZATION OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY

CHAPTER 5: Electric Heating

L-5-1
 Introduction

• Heating is required for the domestic purposes such as cooking and heating of
buildings as well as for industrial purposes such as melting of metals,
hardening and tempering , case hardening , drying and welding.
• Practically all the heating requirements, can be met by some form of electric
heating equipment.
• Electric heating is extensively used for industrial application e.g. melting of
metals, heat treatment of metals like annealing, tempering, soldering and
brazing, moulding of glass, baking of insulator, enamelling of copper wire etc.
 Advantages of Electric Heating
The main advantages of electric heating over other systems of heating (coal, oil or
gas heating) are given below:
• Cleanliness. Since neither dust nor ash is produce in electric heating, it is a clean
system of heating requiring minimum cost of cleaning. Moreover, the material to be
heated does not get contaminated.
• No Pollution. Since no flue gases are produce in electrical heating, no provision
has to be made for exit.
• Economical. Electric heating is economical because electric furnaces are cheaper in
their initial cost as well as maintenance cost since they do not required big space for
installation or for storage of wood and coal. Moreover, there is no need to construct
any chimney or to provide extra heat insulation.
• Easy to Control. It is easy to control and regulate the temperature of an electric
furnace with the help of manual or automatic devices. Simple, accurate & reliable
temperature control can be achieved.
 Contd....
• Higher Efficiency of Utilization. The overall efficiency of electric heating is comparatively
higher since in this system of heating the source can be brought directly to the point where
heat is required, thereby reducing loss. It has been practically ascertained that 75 to 100 % of
heat produced by electric heating can be successfully utilized whereas in case of gas, solid
fuel & oil heating the efficiencies are 60%, 30% & 60% respectively.
• Better Working Condition. Since electric heating produces no irritating noises and the
radiation losses are low, it results in low ambient temperature. Hence, working with furnace is
convenient and cool.
• Safety. Electric heating is quite safe because it response quickly to the controlled signals.
• Lower Attention and Maintenance Cost. Electric heating equipment generally will not
require much attention and supervision and their maintenance cost is almost negligible.
Hence, labour charges are negligibly small as compared to other forms of heating.
 Modes of Heat Transfer

1. Conduction
In this mode of heat transfer, one molecule of body gets heated and transfers some
of the heat to the adjacent molecule and so on. There is a gradient between the two
ends of the body being heated.
Consider a solid material of cross section A m2 & thickness x m. If T1 &T2 are the
temperatures of the two sides of the slab in K then heat conducted between the two
opposite faces in time t seconds is given by
∗ ∗ ∗
Q= where k = thermal conductivity of the material.
 Contd....

2. Convection
 Heat is transferred by the flow of hot and cold air currents. This process is
applied in the heating of water by immersion heater. The quantity of heat
absorbed by the body by convection process depends mainly on the
temperature of the heating element above the surroundings and upon the size of
the surface of the heater.
 It also depends, to some extent, on the position of the heater.
Heat dissipation is given by the following equation
Q = a(T1-T2)b
Where a & b are constants whose value depend upon the heating surface facilities,
T1 & T2 are the heating surface & fluid in K respectively.
 Contd....

3. Radiation
In this mode of heat transfer the heat reaches the substance to be heated from the
source of heat without heating the medium in between. Rate of heat radiation is
given by Stefan’s law
Q = 5.72*k*e* 4 4 W/m2
T1 = Absolute temperature of source of heat
T2 = “ “ of substance to be heated
k = radiant efficiency (1 for single element, 0.5-0.8 for several elements placed
side by side.)
e = emmisivity (1 for black body)
 Design of Heating Element

 Knowing the electrical input & its voltage the size & length of the wire
required as the heating element to reach the given temperature can be
calculated.
 The heating element on reaching a steady temperature will dissipate the heat
from its surface equivalent to electrical input. Since generally the heat will be
dissipated from the heating elements at high temperatures, it is reasonable to
assume that the whole of the heat energy is dissipated solely by radiation.
 Heat dissipation according to Stefan’s law is
Q = 5.72*k*e* 4 4 W/m2
& Electrical Input = V2/R = P ; V = supply voltage & R is the resistance of the
heating element.
 Contd....
ρ
R = ρl/A = ; for a circular wire of diameter d, length l & resistivity ρ.
Therefore, P = V2/R =
ρ
Or, l/d2 = ........................................[1]
ρ
Surface area = πdl
Heat dissipated = πdl * Q
At steady temperature
P = πdl * Q
Or, = πdl * Q
ρ
Or, d/l2 = .....................................[2]
Solving [1] & [2], l & d can be calculated.
 Contd....
For ribbon type conductor
Let w be the width & t be the thickness
P = V2/R = V2/(ρl/A) = V2/(ρl/wt)
Or, = ρ ...............................[3]
Heat dissipated = 2*wl * Q {neglecting side area 2*lt as thickness is very small}
At steady temperature,
P = 2*wl*Q
Or, V2/(ρl/wt) = 2*wl*Q
ρ
Or, = .........................................[4]
Solving [3] & [4] l & w for a ribbon of thickness t will be evaluated.
 Example

A 2.5 kW, 240 V single phase resistance oven is to have a nichrome wire heating
elements. If the wire temperature is to be 1500 and that of charge is 450 ,
estimate the diameter & length of wire. The resistivity of nichrome alloy is
42.5µΩcm. Assume the radiating efficiency & the emmisivity of the element to be
1 & 0.9 respectively.
 Solution

P = 2.5 kW = 2500 W
V = 240 V (1-ph)
Radiating efficiency, k = 1
e = 0.9
ρ= 42.5*10-6 Ωcm = 0.425*10-6 Ωm
∗
l/d2 = ρ = = 42577820.43...................[1]
∗ . ∗ ∗
Also,
Q = 5.72*k*e* 4 4 = 494647.07 W/m2
 Contd....

Since, Heat dissipated = Electrical power input

Or, 494647.07*πdl = 2500
Or, d2l2 = 2.588*10-6......................................[2]
Solving 1 & 2
l = 4.79m
& d = 0.3358 mm
 Requirements of Good Heating Element

• High specific resistance

• High melting temperature
• Low temperature coefficient of resistance
• High Oxidizing Temperature
• Positive Temperature coefficient of resistance
• Mechanical Strength
 Classification
Electric Heating

Low Frequency Heating High Frequency Heating

Resistance Heating Arc Heating Induction Heating Dielectric Heating Infrared Heating

Direct Resistance Indirect Direct Core Type Coreless Type

Heating Resistance Induction Heating Inducrion Heating
Heating

Direct Indirect

Arc Heating Arc Heating

 Resistance Heating

• It is based on I2R effect. When current is passed though a resistance

element I2R loss takes place, which produces heat. There are two methods
of resistance heating.

Direct Resistance Heating.

 In this method the material to be heated is treated as a resistance and current is
passed through it.
 The material may be in the form of powder, small solid pieces or liquid.
 The two electrodes are inserted in the material (charge) and connected to either
a.c. or d.c. supply.
 Contd....

 Obviously, two electrodes will be required on 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 material is 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
material itself.
 Indirect Resistance Heating

 In this heating method, electric current is passed through the resistance

element, which is placed in an electric oven Heat produced is proportional to
I2R losses in the heating element.
 The heat so produced is delivered to the material either by radiation or
convection or by combination of the two.
 Arc Heating

• When high voltage is applied across an air gap, the air in the gap gets ionized
under the influence of electrostatic forces & becomes conducting medium.
Current flows in the form of continuous spark called the arc. If it to be noted
that a very high voltage is required to establish an arc across an air gap, but to
maintain an arc small voltage may be sufficient.
• Alternatively an arc can also be produced by short circuiting the two electrodes
momentarily & then withdrawing them back. In this method of striking an arc
high voltage is not required.
• Arc drawn between two electrodes produces heat & has temperature between
1000 to 3500 depending on the material of electrodes used. The use of this
principle is used in electric arc furnaces.
 Direct Arc Furnace

• In direct arc furnace, charge acts as one of the electrode & is heated by
producing arc between the electrode & the charge.
• Since the arc is in direct contact with the charge itself the charge can be
therefore heated to highest temperature.
• The current crossing through the charge develops electromagnetic field &
necessary stirring action can be automatically obtained.
• It is commonly used for production of steel.
 Indirect Arc Furnace
• In this case, arc is formed between two electrodes above the charge & heat is
transmitted to the charge solely by radiation.
• Thus, temperature of charge is lower than that in case of direct arc furnace.
• Since the current doesn’t flow through the charge, there is no stirring action &
the furnace is required to be rocked mechanically.
• Rocking action provides not only the mixing of the material, it also increases
the furnace efficiency because the charge is heated not only by radiation from
the arc but by conduction from the heated refractory during the rocking action.
 Induction Heating
In induction heating, current induced by electromagnetic action is used to heat up the
charge.
A. Direct Core Type Induction Furnace
 It consists of an iron core, crucible of insulating
material & primary winding connected to an ac
supply.
 The charge is kept in the crucible which forms
the single turn short circuited secondary.
When there is no molten metal in the crucible,
the secondary becomes open circuited thereby
cutting off the secondary current. Hence to start the
furnace molten metal has to be poured in the crucible.
 Contd....

• As the magnetic coupling between the primary & secondary is very poor it
results in high leakage & low power factor.
• In order to neutralize the effect of increased leakage reactance, primary
frequency is decreased upto 10 Hz.
• If the transformer secondary current density exceeds 500A/cm2 then due to
interaction of secondary current & ac magnetic field, the molten metal gets
squeezed & forms bubbles & voids. This effect is known as pinch effect.
Disadvantages
Extra cost for obtaining low frequency(frequency converter), suffers pinching
effect & doesn’t function when secondary is open.
 Contd.....
B. Indirect Core type furnace
• In Indirect Core Type Induction Furnace an inductively heated element is
made to transfer its heat to the charge by radiation.
• Indirect Core Type Induction Furnace consists of an iron core linking with
the primary and secondary winding. In this case, secondary consists of a metal
container forming the walls of the furnace proper.
• The primary winding in the Indirect Core Type Induction Furnace is
connected to the supply, inducing current and heating the metal container. Heat
is transmitted to the charge by radiation.
 Contd....

• A detachable magnetic circuit made of a special alloy is kept inside the

chamber. The alloy will lose magnetic properties at a particular temperature &
regains when it cools down.
• On reaching the critical temperature the reluctance of the alloy increases &
decreases the induction effect.
 Contd.....

C. Coreless Induction Heating

 It operates on the principle of an electric transformer.
 If there is no core, the flux density will be low. For compensating the low flux
density the primary should be supplied with high frequency setting up eddy
currents in charge or container by transformer action.
 These currents heat the charge to melting point & they also set up the
electromagnetic force which produce a stirring action to the charge.

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End of L-5-1