Design and implementation of PCB inductors with litz-wire structure for conventional-size large-signal domestic induction heating applications

Induction cookers are usually designed to deliver up to several kilowatts per burner, working above 20 kHz. These appliances are arranged by means of planar-spiral inductors, made of conventional multi-stranded litz-wire, whose size can reach up to tens of centimeters. In this work, a PCB implementation of such inductors is proposed in order to replace the conventional windings, with the objective of achieving equivalent performance, considering the induction efficiency as the figure of merit. With this purpose, a finite-element analysis FEA-aided design and a planar litz-wire structure has been used for implementing the windings. The design was validated by means of experimental measurements on a prototype.