Domestic Induction Heating System With Standard Primary Inductor for Reduced-Size and High Distance Cookware

Abstract

In this article, a hybrid wireless power transfer system, which combines induction heating (IH) and inductive power transfer functionalities, is proposed to improve the performance of a domestic IH application with small loads weakly coupled to distant inductors. Considering the basic single-inductor domestic IH application, the proposed system adds a secondary inductor with a series compensation capacitor directly attached to the small ferromagnetic cookware. The extended distance can be used to implement the glassless induction concept, where the ceramic glass of typical cooktops is substituted by the kitchen surface itself. The design of the secondary coil is carried out by means of a combination of finite-element and electrical simulations. A design process, including the housing of the resonant capacitors and the selection of the secondary winding number of turns and cabling, is presented. As a result, a prototype is implemented and tested under working conditions up to 1500 W at several distances. Experimental results validate the electrical modeling and simulation. Moreover, thermal results confirm the feasibility of the proposal and validate the adopted strategies for the capacitor housing.