Analysis of a novel high performance induction air heater

Abstract

This study represents an experimental and numerical investigation of the enhanced prototypes of the induction air heaters. For this purpose, flow field is enhanced in order to avoid turbulence. The air mass flow rate, outlet construction and the application of insulation of the outer surface of the heater were selected as the performance enhancing parameters. Depending on the exit construction, the new designed prototypes are named as K-2 and K-3. Experiments were performed under two groups for three various flow rates. In the first group, non-insulation situation is examined. In the second group tests, insulation is applied to the outside of windings and inlet-outlet flaps which constitute the boundary of the control volume for the prevention of heat losses. The increasing flow rate boosted the thermal efficiency by 9%. Each of insulation and enlarging exit cross section increased the thermal efficiency by 13%. It was observed that the thermal power transferred to air with the new prototypes increased about 246 W more than the previous designs. The thermal efficiencies of the K-2 and K-3 type heaters were calculated as 77.14% and 87.1%, respectively.