Advanced modeling of induction heaters for environmental remediation

Soil contamination by petroleum and other heavy hydrocarbons is a major environmental concern. One way to address it is the in situ thermal remediation technology: the contaminated soil is heated up with an array of large heating devices, thus accelerating evaporation of the contaminants and cleaning the soil in a matter of months.
The goal of this project is to model a particular kind of heating device used in this approach: the induction heater. A typical induction heater consists of a highly conductive coil inside an electrically conductive casing. Once an alternating current is supplied to the coil, it sets up an alternating magnetic field inside the heating device, which in turn creates an eddy current inside the casing. According to the Joule–Lenz law, this eddy current generates heat inside the casing, which is then diffused into the surrounding soil.
We will create and validate a mathematical model for the behaviour of such heating devices, in particular for the magnetic field and the temperature distribution inside the device. This will require taking into account the effects of all relevant material properties and geometric parameters, such as conductivity of the casing and the shape of the coil. Once the model is complete, we will use it to optimize the design of the heaters and achieve the best possible power efficiency.
This project will extend existing mathematical models to make them more realistic and to determine the impacts of existing assumptions. This more advanced model will allow more faithful simulation of the devices to allow quick, safe and efficient computational experiments to reduce the number of test devices needed to be built and also to allow for better control of devices used in the field.

Faculty Supervisor:

JF Williams

Student:

Partner:

McMillan-McGee Corp

Discipline:

Mathematics

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: