Numerical investigation to improve the performance of induction heating oven for tyre mould preheating

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical analysis of an industrial-scale induction heating oven to improve heat transfer performance for applications in the tyre manufacturing industry. Tyre mould preheating is a vital step in the tyre manufacturing process, for which the local industry is currently using conventional heating techniques. Research has shown that induction heating has the potential to significantly reduce the heating time and the energy use of the tyre mould preheating. However, some limitations in obtaining the required temperature profiles have prevented the local industry in moving toward induction heating. Hence, this research focused on using finite element analysis to study the induction heating process to propose an improved oven unit for tyre mould preheating. The simulation was conducted on a simplified and scaled-down model of a tyre mould to study the effects of key parameters. The simulation results showed that. The pancake type coils are recommended for the application and the maximum Ohmic losses could be obtained when the coil air gap is 7-8 mm.