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Resonant converters are well suited for induction heating (IH) applications due to their advantages such as efficiency and power density. The control systems of these appliances should provide smooth and wide power control with fewer losses. In this paper, a simple phase locked loop (PLL) based variable duty cycle (VDC) pulse density modulation (PDM) power control scheme for use in class-D inverters for IH loads is proposed. This VDC PDM control method provides a wide power control range. This control scheme also achieves stable and efficient Zero-Voltage-Switching (ZVS) operation over a wide load range. Analysis and modeling of an IH load is done to perform a time domain simulation. The design and output power analysis of a class-D inverter are done for both the conventional pulse width modulation (PWM) and the proposed PLL based VDC PDM methods. The control principles of the proposed method are described in detail. The validity of the proposed control scheme is verified through MATLAB simulations. The PLL loop maintains operation closer to the resonant frequency irrespective of variations in the load parameters. The proposed control scheme provides a linear output power variation to simplify the control logic. A prototype of the class-D inverter system is implemented to validate the simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]