SiC-based FB-SRI high-frequency domestic induction heater for cooking application

This paper presents a practical test performance of a SiC-based full-bridge series resonant inverter (FB-SRI) for domestic induction cooking applications. In cooking applications using induction heating (IH) technology, high-frequency operation is extremely advantageous in achieving high surface temperatures. It also helps in reducing the size of power electronic converters (PEC). However, the high-frequency operation is limited by the constraints of silicon devices. The development and commercial availability of wide bandgap (WBG) devices provide an opportunity for feasible high-frequency operation of PEC for IH. In this work, an FBSRI is fabricated using four SiC-MOSFET switches using the SCT20N120 device. The inverter is operated at a resonant frequency of 94kHz. The converter’s performance is evaluated experimentally to demonstrate the converter’s switching characteristics, output performance, and load heating profile. The low turn-off time, turn-on time, diode reverse recovery time and high-temperature sustainability of SiC devices enable improved performance for IH. The converter delivers 180W power. The dry heat test shows the rise of temperature from 37°C to 100°C in 6 min 22 secs.