Fluid flow, thermal engineering, experiments, electromagnetics

design and performance validation of a high performance heating system.

In order to validate cooling systems experimentally, it is sometimes necessary to build a representative heating system. As the heating needs to be 26 kW on a piece smaller than an AA battery, this is a challenge. The resulting induction heating system was designed using COMSOL Multiphysics, and experimentally validated to work and capable of testing cooling flow.

Cooling of a heated coil

our approach.

1/8 of the coil geometry is modelled using COMSOL Multiphysics. The frequency used to generate the magnetic fields needs to be carefully chosen in order to achieve a sufficiently uniform current distribution in the work piece, but at the same time minimizing the required total input power (40 kW, including 14 kW dissipation in the coil).

An accurate Computational Electromagnetics model was applied to determine the most suitable heating parameters. In order to achieve sufficient cooling, pressurized water is pumped into both sides of the coil and leaves in the middle, reducing the pressure drop. Thereby, the mass flow can be sufficiently large without decreasing the electrical inductance. The geometry of the water-cooling is modelled using Computational Fluid Dynamics. The minimal required mass flow to avoid boiling was determined.

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“The challenge is always: to reach a conclusion with as little effort as possible. When a simple model can provide an answer to a complex question, this is very satisfying.”

Demcon multiphysics.

Demcon multiphysics is an engineering agency with high-end expertise in the area of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, structural mechanics, acoustics, electromagnetism and nuclear physics. We support clients from a wide variety of market sectors and help them achieve their goals in research and development with deep physical insights.

We combine fundamental physical knowledge from an analytical approach with Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) simulations tools from ANSYS, MATHWORKS, COMSOL, STAR-CCM+ and FLUKA to setup, execute, analyze and evaluate numerical simulations. The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Finite Element Analysis (FEM / FEA), Lumped Element Modelling (LEM), Computational Electromagnetics (CEM) and Monte Carlo simulations enables us to make a virtual prototype of your design. With these techniques we can simulate the fluid and gas flows, energy exchange, heat and mass transfer, stresses, strains and vibrations in structures and the interaction of electromagnetic fields with other physical aspects like heat generation. Simulation-driven product development increases the development efficiency and reduces the product development time. Our services can therefore fully support you in the designing phase, from idea up to prototype, from prototype to final design.

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