Induction Heating Equipment & Technology

Induction heating is like all industries, there is always new improvement with induction heating equipment and upgrades being introduced everyday. For one, the size of the new Power Inverters has been reduced to the size of refrigerators or smaller. The reduction in size is the results of better electronics. The electronics that are used now are PLC controls and computers which are controlling the power levels, allowing the unit to have tunable power and frequency.  The power level can now be adjusted and monitored to achieve closer tolerance in power output. This type of control allows the pharmaceutical companies to use induction heating to seal tamper resistance bottles.

New electronics have allowed the variables in induction heat treating to be controlled with greater accuracy. These new electronics include quench flow rates, quench pressures and temperature control to name a few of the sensors that are controlled by the use of computers and PLC controls.

As new electronics are being developed they are being used to improve the repeatability of the process. This alone can and will improve the way materials are heat treated. At Zion Industries we are working with the PLC control and computer industries to create a new and improved scanner for the Induction Heat Treating Industry.

In closing as the electronics improve the Induction Heat Treating field will become more important in metal processing because the process will become more controlled. This allows for greater accuracy in all aspects of the heat treatment. 

Ed Wichmann
Engineer
Zion Industries, Inc.