Investigating the Effects of Induction Heating on a Submerged Hollow Cylindrical Element

ABSTRACT This article proposes an induction heating element that addresses heat transfer and thermal homogenization while being fully submerged in a liquid, specifically focusing on heating of water as a case study. The design calculations, fabrication, and realization of a resonant induction heating system that heats the proposed heating element are presented. The geometric shape of proposed heating element is a hollow cylinder that maintains structural strength while delivering required thermal energy because of an external time‐varying magnetic field. Detailed mathematical modeling of the proposed heating element's equivalent electric circuit has been presented while considering physical parameters including diameter, thickness, height, material properties, magnetic field frequency, and skin effect. A laboratory scale prototype of the induction heating system including the proposed heating element has been built, and experiments have been demonstrated. The experimental results of the working induction heating resonant inverter and RLC resonant circuit inductance and capacitance with induction load are presented. Additionally, the results of thermographic images and temperature–time profile of the water sample, which was heated using the proposed heating element, are provided to demonstrate the heating element's reliability and practicality. This research contributes to the field of induction heating technology by investigating a heating element that is submerged in a liquid medium, resulting in a uniform temperature distribution throughout the liquid. The conventional method of heating water in a stainless steel cup‐shaped container is an inefficient heat transfer process. In stainless steel cup‐shaped containers, a portion of the energy input used to boil the water is lost to the environment through the surface area of the container that is not in direct contact with the water. This heat loss occurs due to the container's design, which exposes a large surface area to the surrounding environment, allowing thermal energy to dissipate through conduction, convection, and radiation.