EE 2850 Applied Electricity

Domestic applications:
Room heaters,
Water heating, hot plate, electric kettle, electric
oven, toaster,.

Industrial applications:
Melting of metals
Heat treatment of metals (annealing, tempering,
soldering, brazing, etc..)
Moulding of glass

Cleanliness

No pollution

Economical

Easy temperature control

- no dust

- cheap, low maintenance

Special heating requirements can be

catered
Uniform heating
Heating only a particular portion

Higher efficiency
Most of the heat produced is utilized for
heating
Better working conditions
No irritating noise
Low radiation losses
Low ambient temperature

Safety
Responds quickly to the controlled signals

1.

Resistance heating / Joule heating

2.

Arc heating

3.

Induction heating

4.

Eddy current heating

5.

Dielectric heating

6.

Infrared heating

Based on

When current passes,

effect
losses produce heat

Two methods
Direct resistance heating
Indirect resistance heating

Direct Resistance Heating

Current pass through the material (or charge) to
be heated
High efficiency as heat is produced in the
charge it self

Indirect Resistance Heating

Current pass through a resistance element which
is surrounded by the charge
Heat is delivered to the charge by radiation /
convection

A high voltage is applied across an air-gap

Air becomes ionized

Starts conducting in a form of continuous spark

(arc) -> produce heat

Two methods:
Direct Arc Heating
Indirect Arc Heating
For carbon/graphite electrodes -> 30000C 35000C

Arc is formed
between the
electrodes and
the charge

Arc is formed between electrodes

Produced heat is passed to the charge by radiation

Based on the principle of transformer working

Primary winding is supplied from an AC source

Primary is magnetically coupled to the charge

It induces voltage in the charge (secondary)

Secondary current heats up the charge

Two methods:
Core type induction heating
Coreless type induction heating

Direct Core Type

Indirect Core Type

A suitable element is heated by induction
Heat is transferred to the charge by radiation

No heavy iron core

Primary is connected to high frequency AC supply
Eddy currents induced in the charge and heats it up
Eddy current loss
Needs a high frequency supply

Material to be heated is placed inside a high

frequency carrying coil
Magnetic filed produced by the coil sets up eddy
currents in the material
Material gets heated up

Advantages:
Can take place in vacuum or special environments
-> where other heating types cannot be used
Can made to penetrate any depth, by selecting
proper frequency

Used for heating insulators like wood, plastic,

ceramic etc

Supply frequency between 10 50 MHz

Applied voltage up to 20 kV

Efficiency is around 50%

Dielectric is placed between two conducting plates

to form a parallel plate capacitor
When connected to the AC source,
capacitor draws a current
which leads the voltage by an angle which is
little less than 900

Power loss in the capacitor is converted into heat

Advantages:
Heat is uniform as it is generated within the
dielectric material
Only method for heating dielectrics
Heating can be stopped immediately as and
when desired
Disadvantage:
Cost is very high

When tungsten filament lamps are operated at

about 23000C
they produce heat radiations
(infrared radiations)
Using suitable reflectors, these IR radiations are
focused on the surface to be heated
Applications:
Paint drying
Low temperature heating of plastics

Welding
Process of joining metallic and non-metallic
materials
By applying heat, pressure, or a combination

Electric welding
Process of welding two pieces of metal together
using a powerful electric current

Does not waste excess fuel

Heat does not move far beyond the weld point
- ideal for insulated wires
Can be used for both large and small jobs

Welding can be done by using

Electric energy
Chemical energy
Mechanical energy
2 common methods (by electric energy)
1. Arc welding
2. Resistance welding

Arc welding:
Electricity is conducted in the form of an arc
Established between the two metallic surfaces

Resistance welding:
Current is passed though the inherent resistance
of the joint to be welded
Heat generated by
losses

When current passes between two metallic

electrodes which are separated by a short distance
- An electric arc is formed
The arc is started by touching the (+) ve metal to
the (-) ve metal
Then separating them about 3 to 6 mm
When touched, large short circuit current flows
When separated, continue to flow in form of spark
(arc)

DC power - heat generated at cathode is much less

compared to the anode
AC power heat developed equally at the anode
and the cathode
Short arc length is necessary for getting good
welds

Welding is never done directly from supply mains

Welding machines provide current of various
characteristics
Welding machines are essential
To convert AC to DC when DC welding is desired
To reduce voltage to a safer and suitable value
To provide required high current, without drawing
from the supply mains

Two types of welding machines:

1. DC welding machines
Motor generator set
AC transformer with rectifiers
2. AC welding machines

Consists of
A reverse series winding DC generator
DC / AC motor

On open circuit,
Only shunt filed is operative
Provide maximum voltage for striking the arc
After the arc has been established,
Current pass through the both windings
Fluxes oppose each other -> Decrease the voltage

Advantage:
Portable operation
Suitable for all ferrous and non-ferrous materials
Suitable for all positions of welding
Disadvantages:
High initial cost and maintenance cost
Noisy in operation

Consists of
A transformer (single-phase or three-phase)
A rectifier unit

Advantages:
Long life as it has no moving parts
Efficient
Quite in operation
Applications:
Pipes
Non ferrous metals
Mild steel in thin gauges

Consists of
A step-down transformer with tapped secondary
Adjustable reactor - for drooping VI characteristics

Advantages:
Low initial cost
Low maintenance cost
Low wear
Disadvantages:
Not suitable for cast iron and non-ferrous metals

No extra metal is added to the joint

Heat generated as per the equation

Process has two stages:

Resistance heating
Application of forging pressure

Advantages:
Welding action is rapid
No filler material is needed
Requires comparatively lesser skill
Suitable for large quantity production
Both similar and dissimilar metals can be welded
Parent metal is not harmed
Different shapes can be welded
Disadvantage:
High initial cost
High maintenance cost

Spot Welding

Seam Welding

Projection Welding

Butt Welding

A TEXTBOOK OF

ELECTRICAL TECHNOLOGY
VOLUME III
TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION & UTILIZATION

Saving energy in HVAC applications with Variable

Speed Drives (VSDs)
Should include:
Introduction - HVAC systems, use of electric
machines, need for VSDs
How VSDs can save energy
Example / Case study - to give a quantitative
idea
Any other which is relevant
No. of words: 750 - 1000