Uniform Thermal Energy Distribution Scheme for Wireless Heat Transfer System Based on Inherent Topology and Thermal Coupling

The wireless heat transfer (WHT) system is proposed to ensure the reliability and flexibility of the electrical heat tracing for domestic and industrial applications. In this article, the inherent coupling relationship among coil dimension, resistance, distance, and inductance of a WHT system is investigated, which illustrates the intrinsic link between thermal energy and electromagnetic feature of the WHT system under multiple mediums. Besides, the magnitude and distribution of the thermal energy among different coils are analyzed according to equivalent circuits and magnetic coupling mechanisms. For further studying the power distribution characteristic, the power flow model of the multiple coil system is established. On this basis, the uniform thermal energy distribution scheme of the WHT system is proposed to ensure all coils have equal heating power. Moreover, the heating power in the partial compensation condition is also investigated. The result indicates the compensation states of the transmitter coil only affect the magnitude of the heating power. Thus, the transmitter coil compensation states which can be used to adjust the heating capacity of the WHT system. The simulation and experiments are carried out to validate the feasibility of the proposed uniform thermal energy distribution scheme.