Thermal Analysis of Induction Furnace

Induction heating furnaces are employed for vacuum distillation process to recover and consolidate heavy metals after electrorefining operation. Induction heating furnaces of suitable heating rates are required to be developed for this purpose. Hence it is planned to set up a mock-up induction furnace which will simulate the conditions to be realized in actual induction heated vacuum distillation furnace. The mock-up induction furnace will be used to demonstrate the melting of copper. Preliminary results of the mock-up furnace are aimed at understanding the induction heating process and control which will be useful for the design and operation of actual vacuum distillation furnace. The mock-up induction furnace has been modeled in COMSOL Multiphysics. Prior to that the Induction Heating Interface algorithm under the Heat Transfer Module of COMSOL Multiphysics was validated with the experimental data reported in the literature. This paper describes the thermal and electromagnetic modeling of induction furnace and discusses the numerical results obtained. These results will be compared with the experimental results which will be obtained during the operation of mock up facility.