AbstractsComputer Science

Feasibility study of inductive heating coil with distributed resonant capacitors

by Tingting Xu




Institution: University of British Columbia
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Degree: Master of Applied Science - MASc
Year: 2015
Record ID: 2060492
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/52897


Abstract

Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) method is one of the most common methods used in the process of heavy oil recovery. However, the method is economically inefficient, inherently dependent of water availability and has some detrimental impact on the environment. Therefore the need for an efficient, economically feasible and environmental friendly solution to the existing problem is felt vehemently at the core of oil recovery industry. In the light of existing issue, electromagnetic heating technique has emerged as a promising solution and has received greater and greater attention of late. However, most of the studies (especially for inductive heating) have been limited to digital simulations and experiments primarily within the laboratory. In this thesis, preliminary investigations were carried out to confirm the feasibility of a new constructed capacitive compensated inductor coil. Design parameters of the inductor coil were computed and a test model was constructed in the lab for experimental verification of these parameters. The set up comprised a vertical drilling coil design with ferrite core inserted within, thus, creating an intensive electromagnetic field. In this design, a distributed resonating capacitor was proposed to avoid capacitor breakdown due to high voltage. Different coil winding configurations were proposed, constructed and tested by Frequency Response Analysis (FRA) to identify the resonant frequencies. The step response tests and field tests were performed with a square wave supply and were contrasted with the expected induced magnetic field modeled in MatLab. The measurements of the designed coil parameters matched the theoretically computed parameters and the experimental setup verified the advantage of using distributed capacitors, resulting is low breakdown voltage requirement. However, double-layer winding has multiple resonant frequencies and the proposed coil designs suffer from core losses core and winding copper losses. Thus, industrial application of this technology still requires further improvements.