Design of an IGBT-based LCL-Resonant Inverter for High-Frequency Induction

Heating
Sibylle Dieckerhoff, Michael J. Ryan and Rik W. De Doncker
Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives
RWTH-Aachen
Jaegerstrasse 17-19
52066 Aachen, Germany

Abstract-A power electronic inverter is developed for a source inverter, especially when IGBTs are the chosen active
high-frequency induction heating application. The devices.
application requires up to 160kW of power at a frequency
of 1OOkHz. This power-frequency product represents a 11. CONVERTER
TOPOLOGIES
significant challenge for today's power semiconductor
technology. Voltage source and current source inverters A. Load Characteristics
both using ZCS or ZVS are analyzed and compared. To
attain the level of performance required, an LCL load- The induction heating coil in the present application is
resonant topology is selected to enable ZVS close to the used to heat various steels. The simple equivalent circuit
zero current crossing of the load. This mode of soft- describing the system consists of a coil and a resistor
switching is suitable to greatly reduce the IGBT losses. connected in series. The power factor of the system may
Inverter control is achieved via a Phase Locked Loop change with the load between approximately 0.03 and 0.08.
(PLL). This paper presents the circuit design, modeling Hence, the required reactive power is extremely high:
and control considerations. between 2MVA and SMVA for 160kW active power. In the
equivalent circuit, this change is due to the change in the
I. INTRODUCTION resistor value, whereas the inductance of the coil does not
vary significantly with the load.
The load in induction heating applications generally turns
out to have a very low power factor. To compensate reactive Safety requirements restrict the inductor voltage to an
power, the inductive load is extended to a resonant tank by upper limit of 3kV, and hence the rated inductor current is
adding further capacitive and sometimes inductive devices. above 1kA. It is necessary to have reactive power
Previous publications focus on simple series or parallel compensation with a capacitor bank connected in parallel to
resonant circuits, often including a matching transformer [ 1- the coil, because it is not desirable to stress the active devices
41. In the following, an IGBT-converter supplying a third in the inverter with currents as high as 1kA. The
order resonant tank is presented. This solution enables the compensation reduces the current in the inverter to
adaptation to a varying load while avoiding the transformer. approximately 250A.
A basic study of the chosen LCL resonant circuit has already B. Feasible Converter Topologies
been presented in [5,7], and a feasible control scheme is
given in [6].This paper will put the main stress on a detailed, With the switching times of today's high-voltage IGBTs
application-specific analysis of the circuit to obtain design being still quite high, 1200V IGBTs were chosen for the
rules for active and passive components. A control scheme to lOOkHz application. These IGBTs can operate at a 8OOV dc-
match the demands and characteristics of the present load is link voltage. Therefore, a voltage boost is necessary to obtain
derived. the required voltage of maximal 3kV at the inductor. In
addition, the voltage and current in the resonant circuit vary
The induction heating application discussed in this paper with different loads. Hence, voltage adaptation is often
requires high active power (more than 100kW) and at the required when working with the full dc-link-voltage at rated
same time operates at frequencies around 100kHz. There are power. To avoid a transformer, these demands result in the
other induction. heating applications mentioned in the design of a third order resonant circuit with switchable
literature that make similar demands on the power supply. passive devices. Figure 1 shows the two feasible solutions for
Due to the high frequency, the suggested converters are the inverter and the resonant circuit: a current-source inverter
mainly set up with MOSFETs [2-71. This is an economically with capacitive coupling and a voltage source inverter with
feasible solution only for lower power requirements. The inductive coupling of the load. Neglecting parasitics and
developments in IGBT-technology make it possible to build assuming ideal semiconductor switches, both inverters would
more compact and cheaper converters for higher frequencies at best operate with output voltage and current in phase.
using IGBTs. The solution presented in [SI consists of a
voltage source inverter that is coupled to a series resonant The principle of duality for the series and the parallel
load via a transformer. In [9], a current source inverter drives resonant converter can be extended to the modifications of
a parallel resonant circuit. In section 11, it will be shown that these basic circuits, topologies A and B. This includes the
for the present application, the voltage source inverter with desired characteristics of the switching devices, the necessary
the LCL resonant tank has an advantage over the current dc link, the switching control and also the behavior of the

0 1999 IEEE
0-7803-5589-X/99/$10.00 2039
 Topology A

Fig. 1. VSI with inductive coupling (topology A) and CSI with capacitive coupling (topology B) of the load

circuits in case of a failure. Table I summarizes the features Table I1 gives an overview of the most important
of both topologies. Especially interesting is the steady state advantages and disadvantages of the voltage source and the
operating point. It is derived by a fundamental component current source topology. In the evaluation special focus has
analysis of the ideal, lossless resonant LCL- respectively been made on the overall system and especially the
CCL-tank. semiconductor losses. Theoretically, soft switching of the
IGBTs can easily be achieved with aid of the resonant load.
z
The value of the complex input impedance of the resonant
However, the switching losses are still dominant at 1OOkHz
tank defines the two resonant angular frequencies a,l and switching frequency and limit the overall performance of the
@2. They can be found by calculating those frequencies
system. Hence, the first aim is to find the solution with the
which result in either infinite or zero input impedance. The lowest switching losses. Both topologies allow ZCS or ZVS.
following equations show the results of this analysis: The mode of operation is set in advance by circuit parasitics
and nonideal device characteristics.
Topology A (LCL) Topology B (CCL)
1 In the voltage source inverter, the output capacitance CcE
z-0
- f%I =-
m of the IGBTs influences the switching instant: switching at
the zero-crossing of the current leads to additional turn on
1 1 Table I
z-+m
- f%2 =- %2 = A AND B
J Z J L . CIC2 /(Cl + C2)
DUALITY
OF TOPOLOGIES

(1) Topology A (LCL resonant tank) Topology B (CCL resonant tank)

The LCL resonant tank is supplied by a voltage source
inverter. It operates at the resonant frequency defined by the Voltage source inverter Current source inverter
z
complex input impedance -+ 0, which is the resonance
Bidirectional current flow through Bidirectional voltage blocking
point of a series resonant circuit. For the CCL-tank, the semiconductors capability of semiconductors
opposite statement is valid: the resonant circuit works at the
frequency set by the input impedance Z + m and therefore at Rectangular output voltage, Rectangular output current,
the resonance point of an equivalent parallel resonant circuit. sinusoidal output current sinusoidal output voltage
C. Comparison of Converter Topologies Dead time required for the Overlap time required for
Different aspects have to be considered to perform a commutation process commutation process
comparison of the two solutions. Of special interest are
- the mode of soft switching and the losses in the active Switching instant slightly before
zero crossing of the load current
Switching instant slightly before
zero crossing of the load voltage
devices;
- the effect of parasitic inductance and capacitance on Inverter has to be switched off in All semiconductors must conduct in
circuit design and control and on the stress of devices; case of a short circuit case of a short circuit, a crowbar or
- the design of the dc link; energy recovery is required
- the design of resonant passive devices;
- the fault handling; Operation frequency approximately Operation frequency approximately
- the flexibility of the solution. 1 1
w= w=
Jc L, L,/L, + L,
' ' J L . C I .C2/CI+c2

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 TABLE I1
COMPARISON OF FEASIBLECONVERTER TOPOLOGIES

VSI with inductive coupling of the load (LCL resonant tank) CSI with capacitive coupling of the load (CCL resonant tank)
~ ~ ~~

+ Zero-current soft-switching at resonant frequency. + Zero-voltage soft-switching at resonant frequency

+ Zero-voltage soft-switching above resonant frequency. + Zero-current soft-switching above resonant frequency
+ Good usage of voltage-blocking capability of the IGBTs resulting in low - Due to the sinusoidal voltage waveforms the blocking capability of the
conduction losses. IGBTs is poorly used resulting in higher currents and consequently
leading to higher losses
+ IGBTs are standardized for usage in voltage source inverters
I No additional series diodes necessary. Additional series diodes necessary as high-speed symmetric devices are
not yet available.
The stray inductance in the supply conductor from the inverter to the
load is critical (overvoltages across the IGBTs, higher switching losses);
compensation is possible (with limitations) by an optimized switching
strategy, similar to the natural commutation in thyristor bridges [IO].
+ The resonant capacitor can be placed close to the inductor thus reducing To minimize the stray inductance in the cable between inverter and load,
losses by minimizing the length of the high-voltage, high-current the capacitor bank is split with the parallel capacitor close to the
connection. inverter. This leads to high losses and voltage drops across the
connection.
Design of the output resonant coil is difficult, taking care of leakage
fields and losses.
DC link design must be of extremely low inductance. + Design of the DC link is not critical.
+ Better short-circuit and no-load handling capability because of the
current-limiting DC link.

losses because of the discharging of the capacitance C,, . voltage switching. This test bench was proposed for the
Switching below the resonant frequency, i.e., after the zero- evaluation of GTOs and it is explained in detail in [11,12].
crossing of the current means current-commutation from the Here, a 12OOV, 500A IGBT with punch-through technology
opposite diode. This mode of operation should be avoided in was tested. The picture clearly depicts the problem of
each case, because of possible current and voltage peaks due switching losses owing to the stray inductance in the current
to the reverse recovery effect of the diode. The high- source inverter. To avoid the voltage peak, it is recommended
frequency inverter is equipped with very fast drivers to to switch the next IGBT before the zero crossing of the
reduce switching times and therefore the aforementioned sinusoidal voltage. This operation mode is similar to the well
effect is very strong. Hence, a lagging current, i.e. a slightly known natural commutation process in thyristor bridges. The
inductive load characteristic, is the desired mode of optimal phase angle between voltage and current is derived
operation, because ZVS can be realized. when we assume that the commutation of the current is
finished at the zero-crossing of the voltage. The formula (2)
The output stray inductance is the critical parameter in the to determine the optimal switching angle p i s given in [IO]. It
current source inverter. It is especially important when high depends on the stray inductance LsIroy, the inverter current I , ,
flexibility of the converter system is required. This means the inverter voltage U , and the angular frequency w :
that there may be quite a long (several meters) distance
between the inverter and the resonant load with significant
stray inductance. To illustrate the problem, fig. 2 shows a
measurement of IGBT voltage and current during turn off. This kind of control has two disadvantages: first, it varies
The device under test is the IGBT TI .The measurement was with the load, the circuit setup and the frequency and
carried out on a current source test bench allowing zero- therefore it is difficult to adjust exactly to the desired
switching instants. Secondly, the larger the overlap angle
4 = 180" - p of the commutation, the higher the kVA-rating
of the inverter to achieve constant real power at the load, thus
leading to higher semiconductor losses. Hence, this control
scheme only makes sense for low parasitic inductive setups
but does not match the feature of a flexible system for
induction heating.

Further results of the comparison of the two topologies are

summarized in table 11. Based on this comparison, topology
A was found to be the most suitable solution for the
application at hand with using present IGBT devices. Details
on the circuit and the control scheme are presented in the
Fig. 2. IGBT turn off measured on a current source ZVS following sections.
test bench

204 1
 , output the ratio of the resonant tank equivalent input resistance and
Transformer Rectifier DC-Link HF-Inverter Resonant Tank Inductor load resistance:

Switching For a resonant tank with a high quality factor Q, the

Firing Angle Frequency
approximation
Fig. 3. High-frequency induction heating system with LCL-
resonant output -1 =
2- L,
(7)
I , Lz
given in [7], is valid for the resonance point defined by
111. SYSTEM
ANALYSIS _Z+ 0. This relationship gives an idea of the necessary size
The entire induction heating system is shown in the block of the inductor Ll . A rough design of the resonant tank is
achieved when the value of the capacitor C is set by applying
diagram of Fig. 3. On the input side, the high-frequency
IGBT-inverter is connected to a thyristor rectifier via a (1).
voltage link. The inverter supplies a resonant LCLR-load with
The load power and the phase demand, together with the
an LC-circuit coupling the output inductor to the inverter.
desired resonant frequency range, fix the values of tEe
This LC-circuit serves two purposes:
resonant passive components L, and C. For a more exact
1. It provides the reactive current drawn by €he output design of the circuit it makes sense to proceed as follows:
inductor and
1. Calculate the equivalent input resistance R,, of the
2. it provides a significant voltage boost across the LI
resonant tank for nominal power and nominal dc-link
inductor.
voltage.
A. Impedance Characteristics 2. Set the resonant angular frequency w.
A hndamental component analysis of the resonant load 3. With 1. and 2. calculate the capacitance C.
gives good insight into the circuits characteristics. A very 4. Adjust LI for Xey= 0 or exactly for the desired phase lag
useful variable to determine the characteristics is the complex 4 between inverter voltage and current. (See [5] for a
input impedance _Z of the LCLR-circuit. In terms of detailed explanation.)
impedance, the purpose of the inductor LI is to transform the B. Parameter Variation
rather low impedance of the compensated output inductor (Z
= R = 0.10) to a more suitable value for the inverter (Z = Rey The basic inverter design is done for rated power and a
= 3.20) while working close to the resonant frequency set by given load. In the real application, the system must be
L,, L2 and C. The complex impedance Z consists of the real capable of controlling load power, and it must cope with load
variations that may occur during startup and when various
Pa* steels are heated within the same inductor. Concerning the
R
Re</= (3) power control, it is either possible to modify the switching
(1 - w 2L,C)Z + (wRC)2 frequency or to vary the dc-link voltage. The optimum phase
lag 4 with regard to minimal switching losses fixes the
and of the imaginary component switching frequency for a given resonant tank. Hence,
frequency variation is not a feasible control solution, and the
x,,= wL, + wL2 - w’L2,C - wR2C (4)
output power has to be controlled by the rectifier adjusting
(1 -wzL2C)2 + (wRC)2 *
the dc-link voltage.

As the IGBTs are switched close to the zero crossing of the The load variation during startup is expressed by the
load current, the analysis can be simplified further, when we change in the equivalent resistance Re,, which, based on (6)
assume that .the fundamental components of the inverter and (7), is approximately
output voltage and current are approximately in phase.
Therefore, X,, = 0, and the inverter is designed to supply the
required real power PLood to the load:
ijz The equivalent resistance of the cold load is smaller than
P.d = PIwerter = . (5)
the nominal value. Therefore, the rectifier control reduces the
Req
In (3, the voltage c,
is the rms-value of the inverter
power of the circuit during startup so that the rated inverter
current is not exceeded.
rectangular output voltage. With the output power of the
inverter Pln,,er,crbeing equal to the load power Pl,ood, the As already mentioned in section 11, the load power factor
transformation ratio between the absolute values of the changes with the type of the steel that is processed. The
inverter current I, and the inductor current I2 is simply set by variation of the power factor is due to the variation of the
load resistance, whereas the inductance L2 remains practically

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constant. To attain rated power for each load, the resistance IV. INVERTER CONTROL
Re, must always possess its nominal value. Assuming the
parallel capacitor C is unchangeable, the resonance angular The control of the switching instants with a frequency of
frequency w is changed and the inductance L1 is modified to IOOkHz is too high to be implemented with a DSP or a
set the desired phase angle 4. This solution is permissible micro-controller. Hence, a control scheme based on an analog
because the frequency does not vary significantly in this Phase Locked Loop (PLL) has been chosen. In combination
application. Table 111 contains equivalent system data at rated with an integrator, the PLL adjusts to the desired phase angle
power for the heating of two different steels. The inductor between the output voltage and current of the inverter, and
data L I and R are based on simulations. Figures 4 and 5 supplies the IGBT-driver stages with the switching signals.
depict the corresponding phasor plots assuming 4 = 0. A . Basic Design Considerations
Figure 6 shows the phase angle 4 between II and U , as a
Table 111
SYSTEM DATA
hnction of frequency. This phase angle is not monotonic but
changes from inductive to capacitive to inductive. Therefore,
Load 1 Load 2 it is not suitable for a control variable. Instead, [6] proposes
Power Factor 0.077 0.035
Rated Power P,,. 160kW 160kW to use the phase angle B between the output voltage U I and
Eq. Resistance Re, 3.2421 3.24R the voltage U, across the parallel resonant circuit. B has also
Inductance L2 3.03pH 2.90pH been drawn in Fig. 6. In the interesting frequency range
Resistance R 147mR 63mR above the second resonant frequency J12,the slopes of the
Capacitance C 0.93pF 0.93pF
Inductor L , 13.4pH 20.2pH phase angles Band 4 are approximately the same.
Resonant frequencyJ,* 103.6kHz 103.2kHz

-
B. Load Model
L , based on (8) 14.2pH 20.8pH
JI2 based on (1) 1O4kHz 103kHz Fundamentally, the angle B is the integration of the
frequency difference (q- 4) between the switching angular
frequency q and the angular frequency of U,, q.Note that
unlike in section A, in the following sections B and 4
2000 :......... .........:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . represent phase lags with positive values. To model the
UL,=1926V j
..... ....... ....... steady state relation between B and q,as depicted below, a
negative feedback term KO is added around the integrator,
with an offset value of Q,. The model represents a
..... 1,=1244A
500 . . linearization of the B=Aw) relationship around an operation
0- point, where KOrepresents the slope, and a2the intercept.
- -
-500
a
,
>
*+
.......................................

J
-1000 -

-1500 .............................................
~

..
-2000 -
.. .. .. .. .. ..:. .;
..:.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .......
....... ..U,=2!?!6V,
-2500l '
-3000 -2000 -1000 0 1000 2000 3000
The small signal characteristics of the model may be
Fig. 4. Phasor diagram for rated power, load 1 described by the transfer function in Laplace form,

A U, ,=a911V
2000 - f=L03.2kHz I I I I I

1000.

0-
I
.......................................

. . . . . .( . . . .+o
./:
.=1
.8.0b. . . . . .... .........................

1,=222A\1 j
-2
s
a2
0

-50

20 -100
-1000 ~ . !.!=z~?!. i. . . . . . . .:. . . . . . . . . . . . . .j . . . . . . ..j ..

t \ 1 -150
-2000

-3OOOI
, & ,U2=299?V , -Lv"
0.9 0.95 1 1.05 1.1 1.15
-3000 -2000 -1000 0 1000 2000 3000 Frequency ( IO' Hz)

Fig. 5. Phasor diagram for rated power, load 2 Fig. 6. Relation between the phase 4 ( I I / U Iand
) the phase B
(U21Ul)of the LCLR-tank

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 : output
HF-Inverter ; Inductor

I .
U

Fig. 7. Basic Phased Locked Loop Structure

e
-=- 1
=- re frequency and fed into a VCO. The VCO's rectangular output
(9) signal drives the IGBT driver stages. The measurements in
W, K, + S T , . s + ~ '
fig. 8 illustrate the principle of the PLL. The upper curves
where the time constant = l/K@. Note that for the LcL show the digital input signals of the phase sense, the lower
parameters given in table 111, the load has "'pen- curves depict the output voltage U, of the XOR element and
loop" response of around 3kHz.
the setpoint voltage. In steady state, the average voltage U,
C. Control Structure equals the setpoint value.
Figure 7 explains the basic Phase Locked Loop structure. In D. Experimental VerrJication ofcontrol ~~~i~~
evaluating the transient response desired for the controller, it
was determined that the inherent open-loop response of the The control design has been verified with the help Of a low
load would be more than adeauate to track any anticipated power IGBT-inverter operating at approximately 70kHz. The
disturbances. Thus, aside from-decoupling and feed-fokard 11(AI
terms, only an integral gain controller was needed. This had U, (VI
the added benefit of eliminating the need for a low-pass filter
on the phase-angle feedback signal, as is needed in most PLL
\ I OA,40V
controllers.

To obtain the control variable 8, the voltages UI and U, are

measured, converted into digital signals Uld, U2d and OA, OV
processed by an XOR element. The average output voltage of
the phase sensor U,
is proportional to the absolute value of
the phase shift. The difference between the measured value - lOA,-40V
and the setpoint value U,* is integrated. In addition, a feed
forward control allows presetting the operating frequency.
The deviation due to the phase error is added to the working
2 psidiv.

U1 (VI
U?(VI

40V, IOOV

ov

-4OV,- 1OOV

2ps/div. 2psldiv.

Fig. 8.Principle operation of PLL (4%0", B o 68") Fig. 9 . Current I , and voltages U,, Ur for 4 = 0", 8 = 68"

2044
electrical characteristic of the laboratory model was scaled to [4] P. Casella, Pham Huu Phut, A. Berthon: “High Frequency Current
match the phasor characteristics of the real system shown in Inverter with Parallel Resonant Load for Induction Heating”, EPE
1987, pp. 277-280.
fig.4. Figure 9 depicts the current (I,) and voltage waveforms [5] G. L. Fischer, H. Dort, H. Knaak, G. Amler, B. Hemmer: “Resonance
( U , , U,) for operation at resonance. In the upper diagram we Transformation for Induction Heating”, PCIM Europe, March/April
find voltage and current in phase, the lower diagram presents 1994, pp. 76.-79
[6] H. Dort, G. Birk, G. L. Fischer: “Control Mode for Inverters with
the phase shift 8. Resonance Transformation in Induction Heating Applications”, Proc.
Power Conversion, June 1994, pp. 57-67
V. SUMMARY [7] G. L. Fischer, H. Dort: “An Inverter System for Inductive Tube
Welding utilizing Resonance Transformation”, IEEE IAS 1994, pp.
In this paper, the design of an IGBT-based power supply 833-840
for an induction heating system has been presented. The [8] H. G. Matthes, R. JUrgens: “1.6MW 15OkHz Series Resonant Circuit
Converter incorporating IGBT Devices for Welding Applications”,
‘variable load is highly inductive and requires a 160kW active International Induction Heating Seminar 1998, pp. 25-3 1
power at a frequency of 1OOkHz. Based on a detailed [9] E. J. Dede, V. Esteve, J. Jordan J. V. Gonzalez, D. Ramirez: “Design
topology investigation, a third-order LCL-resonant circuit Considerations for Induction Heating Current Fed Inverters with
supplied by a voltage source H-bridge-inverter is chosen. An IGBTs Working at 100 kHz“, IEEE APEC Conference Record 1993,
pp. 679-685
analysis of the circuit and basic design rules are given. A [IO] E. J. Dede, V. Esteve, J. Jordan, J. V. Gonzalez, E. Maset: “On the
control scheme allowing operation of the inverter with the Design of High Power Current-Fed Inverters for Tube Welding
lowest IGBT switching-losses is explained and experimental Applications”, Proc. Power Conversion, June 1993, pp.62-69
[ 1 I] A: Mertens, H.-Ch. Skudelny: “Operation and Control Requirements
results verifying the operation of the control are shown. for a GTO used in a Parallel Resonant Inverter for Induction Heating”,
EPE 1989, pp. 268-273
REFERENCES [I21 A. Mertens, H.-Ch. Skudelny: “Switching Losses in a GTO Inverter for
Induction Heating”, IEEE PESC 1989, pp. 298-305
[I] K. Mauch: “Transistor Inverters for Medium Power Induction Heating [I31 A. Okuno, H. Kawano, J. Sun, M. Kurokawa, A. Kojina, M. Nakaoka:
Applications“, IEEE IAS 1986, pp. 555-562 “Feasible Development of Soft-Switched SIT Inverter with Load-
[2] S. Bottari, L. Malesani, P. Tenti: “High Efficiency 2OOkHz Inverter for Adaptive Frequency-Tracking Control Scheme for Induction Heating”,
Induction Heating Applications”, IEEE PESC 1985, pp. 308-3 16 IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications 1998, pp. 713-718
[3] E. J . Dede, J. V. Gonzalez, V. Esteve, J. A. Linares, J. Jordan,
D. Ramirez, E. Maset: “25kW/200kHz Parallel Resonant Converter for
Induction Heating”, ETEP-Journal V01.2, No.2 1992, pp. 103-109

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