Abstract
Electric Furnaces have gained major ground in industrial heating, especially, in heat-treating where finer control of temperature is required along with improved efficiency and a reduced environmental impact at the point of use. Furthermore, due to energy costs and “line disturbance” penalties imposed by utility companies, many new power topologies have been developed with careful consideration to performance related to efficiency, power factor, harmonics, and line balance. In this paper we develop a systematic approach to defining power requirements and control approach. We consider a systemic thermo-electric model to specify power requirements, then a cost model to select the appropriate power supply topology. As a summary, a power supply topology is presented which combines the features that allows it to meet or exceed current and future requirements and provide the ability for a higher degree of integration.
