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Progress in Electromagnetic Analysis and Modeling of Heating Systems

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "J: Thermal Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 24 November 2025 | Viewed by 1819

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Padova, Padova 35131, Italy
Interests: electromagnetic processing of material; numerical modeling; optimization methods

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Guest Editor
Institute of Electrotechnology, Leibniz University Hannover, Wilhelm-Busch-Str. 4, 30167 Hannover, Germany
Interests: electrification of industrial processes; electromagnetic processing of materials; sustainable industrial thermal process technologies

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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Interests: electromagnetic processing of materials; electrification of industrial thermal processes; power quality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is a pleasure to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue of Energies dedicated to the electrification of thermal processes, particularly industrial ones.

Technologies that use electricity to treat and transform materials, particularly induction, dielectric, and microwave heating methods, as well as traditional electric heating with resistors, play a key role in the transition to production systems with reduced environmental impact. The electrification of industrial processes implies using electricity as the main energy source for industrial operations in place of fossil fuels (such as natural gas, coal, and oil), and in addition to a significant reduction in pollutant emissions, this offers other advantages related to the efficiency, precision, repeatability, and cleanliness of electrothermal processes.

Interest in the technologies that we have studied or applied has received new momentum, especially with new regulations that penalize greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

The opportunity to promote our research in the field of electrothermal energy in a journal like Energies, which is of recognized quality (Q1 for engineering in general) and has a very wide impact due to its high readership, is a key opportunity to disseminate the results of our research to a very wide audience.

The topics that I would like to see covered, both as scientific articles that present the most current research and as state-of-the-art review articles, include the following:

  • Innovative applications of EPM technologies.
  • Case studies on the electrification of industrial processes.
  • Innovative numerical methods for solving coupled problems.
  • The optimization of electrothermal processes.
  • Digital Twins, Machine Learning, and AI: perspectives for the development of electrothermal systems.
  • The development of innovative materials through EPM technologies.
  • Recent developments in power and control electronics systems.
  • Special applications, including not only domestic and medical ones but also non-industrial applications.

Dr. Michele Forzan
Prof. Dr. Egbert Baake
Prof. Dr. Koen Van Reusel
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • electromagnetic processing of material
  • induction heating
  • magnetohydrodynamics
  • dielectric heating
  • numerical modeling, coupled problems
  • optimization
  • thermal process electrification
  • digital twins
  • machine learning
  • innovative applications in electrical heating

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3353 KB  
Article
Computational Analysis of the Effects of Power on the Electromagnetic Characteristics of Microwave Systems with Plasma
by Kamal Hadidi, Camille E. Williams and Vadim V. Yakovlev
Energies 2025, 18(19), 5128; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18195128 - 26 Sep 2025
Viewed by 264
Abstract
The scaling of microwave plasma technologies from successful laboratory demonstrations to larger industrial applications usually involves an increase in microwave power. This upgrade is accompanied by a higher electron density (and electric conductivity) of the plasma that often limits the power efficiency of [...] Read more.
The scaling of microwave plasma technologies from successful laboratory demonstrations to larger industrial applications usually involves an increase in microwave power. This upgrade is accompanied by a higher electron density (and electric conductivity) of the plasma that often limits the power efficiency of the device. In this paper, we address this issue through a focused computational study of electromagnetic characteristics of a microwave system containing plasma. Our approach employs finite-different time-domain analysis supported by a simple model which characterizes the plasma medium using plasma frequency and the frequency of electron-neutral collisions. Based on experimental data for electron density with respect to power, the plasma frequency is generated as a linear function of power, thus enabling a direct understanding of how frequency characteristics of the reflection coefficient and patterns of the electric field may vary for different power levels in a variety of plasma scenarios. For a cavity modeled after conventional plasma applicators, computational results illustrate complex behavior of the field with respect to power. When the power is increased, energy efficiency may decrease, remain low, or increase depending on where the operating frequency stands with respect to the system’s resonances. The proposed modeling approach identifies the system parameters which are most impactful in tuning the system to resonance, thus informing the design variables for subsequent computer-aided design of the scaled system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Progress in Electromagnetic Analysis and Modeling of Heating Systems)
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18 pages, 2341 KB  
Article
Numerical Optimization of the Coil Geometry in a Large-Scale Levitation Melting Device—With Titanium as a Case Study
by Sławomir Golak and Radosław Zybała
Energies 2025, 18(15), 4162; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18154162 - 5 Aug 2025
Viewed by 641
Abstract
Electromagnetic levitation melting offers the opportunity for the energy-efficient processing of reactive and high-purity metals. This paper concerns a new levitator design that significantly expands the achievable mass of molten metal by processing a toroidal load within a device featuring an annular trough-shaped [...] Read more.
Electromagnetic levitation melting offers the opportunity for the energy-efficient processing of reactive and high-purity metals. This paper concerns a new levitator design that significantly expands the achievable mass of molten metal by processing a toroidal load within a device featuring an annular trough-shaped coil. However, this unconventional arrangement necessitates the optimization of the coil’s geometry and supply current to ensure the stable levitation of the charge. This paper discusses the methodology for such optimization, considering two variants of coil geometry modification. This developed methodology was initially validated using numerical simulation, based on a two-physics, coupled 2D process model, with a 2.6 kg titanium toroidal charge as an example. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Progress in Electromagnetic Analysis and Modeling of Heating Systems)
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16 pages, 15762 KB  
Article
Frequency and Current Analysis for Aluminum Billet Lifting with a Longitudinal Electromagnetic Levitator Prototype
by Matteo Zorzetto, Giulio Poggiana and Fabrizio Dughiero
Energies 2025, 18(13), 3437; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18133437 - 30 Jun 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 438
Abstract
Magnetic levitation enables the confinement and melting of conductive metals using alternating magnetic fields, eliminating the need for a crucible or other contact supports. This makes the technology particularly suitable for applications where container use is impractical, such as preventing contamination between the [...] Read more.
Magnetic levitation enables the confinement and melting of conductive metals using alternating magnetic fields, eliminating the need for a crucible or other contact supports. This makes the technology particularly suitable for applications where container use is impractical, such as preventing contamination between the melt and the crucible, handling high-purity materials, or facilitating in-orbit operations. For a given coil design and load, selecting the appropriate feeding parameters, such as the current and frequency, is crucial to ensure the correct operation of the device. This study investigates the optimal current and frequency values required to levitate an aluminum billet using a proposed longitudinal electromagnetic levitator, which represents an initial prototype of a more complex system for automated material manipulation. The analysis was conducted through 2D and 3D finite element method (FEM) simulations, assessing the equilibrium position and stability with respect to translations and rotations under various operating conditions. The study identifies an operating configuration that ensures vertical stability while minimizing excessive heating, in order to obtain a sufficiently long confinement time before the melting point is reached. A fully coupled 2D thermal simulation was then performed to assess the billet’s heating rate under the selected operating conditions. Finally, an experiment was conducted on a prototype to confirm billet levitation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Progress in Electromagnetic Analysis and Modeling of Heating Systems)
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