Industrial heating processes are necessary to melt, weld, harden, dry or vaporise materials. Traditionally, such processes are often carried out with fossil burners, such as gas or oil burners, which, however, cause significant CO2 emissions and thus contribute to climate change.
In view of the global climate goals, it is therefore necessary to develop alternative technologies that can reduce CO2 emissions. One promising technology in this area is the use of electric flames, called plasma burner torches. They are electrically powered, ideally from renewable energy sources. These plasma burner torches are able to heat materials at very precisely defined temperatures without using CO2-emitting fossil fuels.
Plasma burner torches can be used in many different ways, in particular almost any gas (air, N2, Ar, CO2, O2, ...) can be converted into a high-energy, reactive plasma using the coupled electrical energy. Such plasma-based heating processes can, for example, be carried out in the absence of oxygen, e.g. in a pure nitrogen atmosphere, so there are no oxidative processes (losses) in this case, which in turn can lead to higher process yields and improved product quality. Furthermore, very high process temperatures (>10,000 °C) and very well-defined temperature profiles can be implemented or run through in a targeted manner, thereby benefiting a wide variety of industrial applications.
The power supply for plasma burner torches is critical to the effectiveness and efficiency of the process. There are different types of power supplies for different plasma types and their specific plasma burner types. Power supply units are usually used, which ensure a well-defined power supply for the plasma burner and at the same time minimise operating costs.
