The technology of melting metals by induction heating has been developed for more than a hundred years, it continues to improve until now. It all started with the discovery by the scientist M. Faraday of the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction. Already at that time, the first practical attempts were made to create a new technology for melting metals in the laboratory, but they all ended in failure. At that time, there were no installations capable of generating high-frequency currents of sufficient power.
The first induction furnace was proposed by S. Farranti in 1887. But a lot of time has passed before its practical implementation. In 1890, the Benedicks Bultfabrik company realized this idea, a real opportunity arose to carry out the smelting of metals on an industrial scale using a new technology. But at that time there were no powerful current sources, so the induction furnace worked withsmall amounts of metal.
The situation began to change at the beginning of the 20th century, when the design of the furnace underwent significant changes. Powerful generators and high-frequency current sources appeared, which began to be used to ensure its operation.
The development of semiconductor devices and the appearance of the first thyristor converters made it possible to create efficient power systems based on them. A modern induction furnace is able to work with large volumes of metal. Through the use of innovative control systems, it has become more economical.
This technology makes it possible to obtain ultra-pure alloys of various metals. If with the traditional method of smelting, for example, in the converter, a large percentage of impurities remain, then when using this method, they are absent. This allows the creation of ultra-pure alloys with good performance.
The very principle of operation of an induction furnace is interesting, which consists in non-contact heating of metals using an electromagnetic field. This happens with the help of an inductor, the load of which is the metal loaded into the furnace. If the furnace power is high enough, melting occurs.
The induction furnace itself can have a wide variety of dimensions and purposes. It can be used in laboratory facilities or large industrial complexes, with different capacities and capacities.
Small homemade induction furnace is quitecan be useful in the home laboratory. With its help, you can make, for example, solder with different contents of zinc and tin, as well as much more. In its manufacture, it is necessary to take into account the above principle of operation. Use a high-frequency generator (from 30 MHz and higher), a powerful power source, power modules, and as a result, in a crucible (it can consist of 6-15 turns of PEV-8, 0 wire), it will be possible to melt a piece of zinc in a short period of time (15 -20 seconds).
The development of this technology is proceeding along the path of gradually increasing the power of installations, improving the elemental power base, increasing the frequency of the generator and using innovative developments in control, monitoring and protection circuits.
