ARC HEATING

If the high voltage is applied across an air gap, the air in the gap gets ionized
under the influence of electrostatic forces and becomes conducting medium,
current flows in the form of a continuous spark, known as arc.
A very high voltage is required to establish an arc but very small voltage is
sufficient to maintain it, across the air gap. The high voltage required for
striking an arc can be obtained by using a step-up transformer fed from a
variable AC supply.
Alternatively an arc can also be produced by short circuiting the two
electrodes momentarily and then withdrawing them back. Arc between the
two electrodes produces heat and has a temperature between 1000 deg c and
3500 deg c depending upon the material of electrodes used.
 Electrodes used in the arc furnaces

Normally used electrodes in the arc furnaces are carbon electrodes, graphite
electrodes, and self-baking electrodes.
Usually the carbon and graphite electrodes are used and they can be selected based
on their electrical conductivity insolubility, chemical inertness, mechanical strength,
resistance to thermal shock, etc.
The size of these electrodes may be 18–27 cm in diameter. The carbon electrodes
are used with small furnaces for manufacturing of ferro-alloys, aluminium
phosphorous, etc.
The self-baking electrodes are employed in the electrochemical furnaces and in the
electrolytic production of aluminum.
 TYPES OF ARC HEATING
Direct arc heating: In this method, by striking the arc between the charge and
the electrode or electrodes, the heat so developed is directly conducted and
taken by the charge. The furnace operating on this principle is known as direct
arc furnaces. The main application of this type of heating is production of steel.

Indirect arc heating: In this method, arc is established between the two
electrodes, the heat so developed is transferred to the charge (or) substance
by radiation. The furnaces operating on this principle are known as indirect arc
furnaces. This method is generally used in the melting of non-ferrous metals
Direct arc furnace
High frequency methods
 Eddy currents
Eddy currents (also called Foucault currents) are loops of electrical
current induced within conductors by a changing magnetic field in the
conductor, due to Faraday's law of induction.
Eddy currents flow in closed loops within conductors, in planes perpendicular
to the magnetic field.
The magnitude of the current in a given loop is proportional to the
strength of the magnetic field,
the area of the loop, and
the rate of change of flux

Inversely proportional to the resistivity of the material

 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.
 Eddy-current Heating

The eddy-current loss is . . 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 is given by
Advantages of Eddy-current Heating

(1) There is negligible wastage of heat because the heat is produced in the body to be
heated.

(2) It can take place in vacuum or other special environs where other types of heating are
not possible.

(3) Heat can be made to penetrate any depth of the body by selecting proper supply
frequency.
Applications of Eddy-current Heating

Surface hardening
Annealing
Soldering
 Dielectric heating
The heating of non-metallic materials such as wood, plastic or ceramics; use can be made of dielectric loss
which occurs in such materials when subjected to an alternating electrostatic field.
The material to be heated is placed between two metallic electrodes across which a voltage is applied.
To ensure sufficient loss to give an adequate amount of heating, frequencies between 10 MHz and 30 MHz
must be used.
The voltage may be as high as 20 kV.
Comparing oven heating Vs dielectric heating of materials of poor thermal conductivity- in dielectric heating,
the heat is produced in the material itself; whereas in the oven heating the heat must be conducted from outside
to inside of the material, which takes long time and also results in non uniform temperature distribution.
Process which would take several hours for oven heating of materials with low thermal conductivity (such as
wood, plastic or ceramics), can be carried out in minutes by dielectric heating.
Dielectric heating is only employed where other methods are impracticable or too slow, due to high cost of
equipment.
Such applications may include bonding of laminated wood and plastic materials, dehydration of food and
tobacco, and sterilization of cereals.
Dielectric heating
When non-metallic materials i.e., insulators such as wood, plastics, and china glass are subjected
to high-voltage alternating electric field, the atoms get stresses, and due to interatomic friction
caused by the repeated deformation and the rotation of atomic structure (polarization), heat is
produced.
This is known as dielectric loss.
This dielectric loss in insulators corresponds to hysteresis loss in ferro-magnetic materials.
This loss is due to the reversal of magnetism or magneto molecular friction. These losses
developed in a material that has to be heated.
 Dielectric heating
An atom of any material is neutral, since the central positive charge is equals to the
negative charge. So that, the centers of positive and negative charges coincide as long as
there is no external field is applied, as shown in Fig. (a).

When this atom is subjected to the influence of the electric field, the positive charge of the
nucleus is acted upon by some force in the direction of negative charges in the opposite
direction. Therefore, the effective centers of both positive and negative charges no longer
coincident as shown in Fig. (b).

The electric charge of an atom equivalent to Fig.(b) is shown in Fig. (c).

 Dielectric heating
This gives raise to an electric dipole moment equal to P = q d, where d is the distance between the
two centers and q is the charge on the nucleus. Now, the atom is said to be polarized atom.

If we apply alternating voltage across the capacitor plate, we will get alternating electric field.
Electric dipoles will also try to change their orientation according to the direction of the impressed
electric field. In doing so, some energy will be wasted as inter-atomic friction, which is called
dielectric loss.

All the dielectric materials can be represented by a parallel combination of a leakage resistor ‘R’ and
a capacitor ‘C’ as shown in Fig. 4.15 (a) and (b).
Dielectric heating
Advantages of Dielectric heating

The heating of the non-conducting materials is very rapid.

The uniform heating of material is possible.
Heat is produced in the whole mass of the material.
Applications of the dielectric heating

The drying of paper, wood, etc.

The gluing of wood.
The heat-sealing of plastic sheets.
The heating for the general processing such as coffee roasting and chocolate industry.
The heating for the dehydration such as milk, cream, and vegetables.
The preparation of thermoplastic resins.
The heating of bones and tissues.
Diathermy, i.e., the heat treatment for certain body pains and diseases, etc.
The sterilization of absorbent cotton, bandages, etc.

The processing of rubber, synthetic materials, chemicals, etc.