Iron Loss Reduction in the Cores of Induction Heating Coils for Small-Foreign-Metal Particle Detector With a 400-kHz SiC-MOSFETs High-Frequency Inverter

This paper presents iron loss reduction in the cores of induction heating (IH) coils for a small-foreign-metal particle (SFMP) detector with a 400-kHz SiC-MOSFETs high-frequency inverter. A new IH coil shape, which can reduce iron loss, is proposed for the stable and continuous operation of the SFMP detector. Magnetic field analysis results using JSOL JMAG software, which is a 3D full-wave electromagnetic field simulation software, demonstrate that the iron loss caused by the newly proposed IH coils is decreased by 71.8 % compared to the previously proposed IH coils. The stable and continuous operation of the SFMP detector with the newly proposed IH coils can be achieved. It is also shown that SFMP represented by 0.3-mm-diameter stainless steel balls (SUS304) on the films can be detected with the newly proposed IH coils using JSOL JMAG software. A prototype experimental setup of the SFMP detector with the newly proposed IH coils is constructed and tested. Experimental results demonstrate that a 400-kHz SiC-MOSFETs high-frequency-inverter-based SFMP detector with the newly proposed IH coil can heat SFMPs, which can be observed by a thermographic camera. Therefore, the authors concluded that the 400-kHz SiC-MOSFETs high-frequency-inverter-based SFMPs detector with the newly proposed IH coil is applicable for high-performance chemical film production lines.