The heater was made for Škoda Auto JSC Mladá Boleslav. It is used for induction heating of steel billets with circular cross-section up to forging temperature. It replaces two heaters from year 1997 SOP 636/1-B45/L (P) wit the output of 2x 630 kW. The thyristor frequency converter is in a separate box. The input mechanism enables either fully automatic or manual insertion of cold billets. The manual insertion is used for short billets which, in the automatic mode, are not able to be oriented in the right way.
In the automatic mode the operator puts the pallet with cold billets onto the pallet tippler bed. When the button is pressed the platform of the pallet tippler starts rotating and the billets are gradually poured out into the vibratory container. From it the cold billets are directed (one by one) onto the input conveyor.
In the manual mode the operator puts the billets directly from the palett to the above mentioned input conveyor. It moves the billets to the roller feeder which consists of a lower prismatic pulley and an upper pressure pulley. Both pulleys are driven.
The roller feeder inserts the billets into the inductor in a heating cycle. In a pre-set heating cycle the heated billet is pulled out with a pulley extractor onto the output conveyor. If the billet is not heated up to the right temperature the conveyor shifts it to the left side. The billet which is heated correctly is shifted to the right side where, at the end of the conveyor, it falls down gravitationally onto the chute in front of the robot.
The temperature of the heated billet is measured by a contactless thermometer UPF IV. The output of the heater and the function of the heated billets separator are regulated according to the temperature value.
The induction heater is controlled by Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) made in Siemens. The operation is done from the control box with buttons and the communication panel. The heating parameters (required temperature, output, temperature limits in etc.) are set up on the communication panel. All failures of the heater are displayed in text on this panel.
Heated Material | magnetic steel | |
Billet Dimensions | Ø D [mm] | 70 - 90 |
Length l [mm] | 220 - 420 | |
Maximum Process Capacity [kg/h] | 2300 | |
Billet Delivery Temperature [°C] | max. 1280 | |
Power [kW] | 1000 | |
Frequency [kHz] | 0,5 - 1,5 |