Equivalent Dipole Moment Method to Characterize Magnetic Fields Generated by Electric Appliances: Extension to Intermediate Frequencies of Up to 100 kHz

Abstract

A previously proposed simple method to characterize magnetic fields near electric appliances was extended to intermediate frequencies of up to 100 kHz. The method consists of identification of the magnetic dipole moment that is equivalent to a magnetic field source of an electric appliance and simple estimation of the magnetic field distribution around the appliance. In addition, frequency characteristics of the magnetic field were taken into account by considering the harmonic components in the magnetic-field waveform for both power frequency and intermediate frequency ranges. For the application of the method, a wide-frequency range (from power frequency to 100 kHz) magnetic-field measuring instrument was developed and applied to appliances that generate intermediate frequency magnetic fields, i.e., an induction heating cooker, a TV set, and a metal detector. The results revealed that the method is adequate to quantify the magnetic field near the electric appliances at frequencies of up to 100 kHz.