IGBTs for Induction Heating in Cooking Appliances

Efficient, Targeted Heating with Induction-Based Cooking

Clean and energy-efficient cooking is essential as the dynamic of our society changes around the world. With both parents in more and more families working, cooking is often something that is prepared in advance and then left to cook during the day using a rice cooker or slow cooker. This ensures a warm meal is ready when everyone gets home. Often, these appliances are replacing gas alternatives that can generate dangerous gases or be the cause of an explosion, so are therefore also improving safety. Induction heating solutions using IGBT switches are an ideal choice as they deliver heat directly to the heating vessels. As such it is a common choice for appliances such as rice cookers, cooking hobs, milk frothers and hot plates.

One of the challenges with the single-ended parallel resonant converters (SEPR) in voltage-mode topology that is often used is that the peak voltage across the IGBT can lie between 900 and 1200 V for a 100 VAC supply, and 1350 to 1800 V for a 220 VAC supply. Considering that the supply in many countries can also fluctuate due to transients by as much as 20%, the IGBT needs to be selected carefully, not only for its maximum collector-emitter voltage, but its gate-emitter voltage too. Devices such as the GT20N135SRA are based upon several generations of IGBT development by Toshiba. They integrate a reverse-conducting (RC) body diode along with other key characteristics that make this RC-IGBT ideal for induction heating appliances, and robust enough for the fluctuations in supply they often face.

The full details behind the design of induction heating applications, along with insights into the characteristics of the GT20N135SRA, are combined in our latest white paper available here:

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