MOSFET/IGBT power supply?

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Original poster: "Mr Gregory Peters by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <s371034-at-student.uq.edu.au>

Hello all,

A big problem I have right now is finding a way to get 10kW to my coil
without loading up a single phase and browning out all the neighbours.
Obviously, the solution is to use three phase. But getting a 3 phase
variac and current limiter would be difficult. So I was wondering if I
could use the following procedure. (My solid state electronics knowledge
is pretty limited):

Firstly, I would rectify the 240 VAC 3 phase supply using a six pulse
rectifier, giving me 340 VDC. I would then switch this using mosfets or
igbts at the line frequency (50Hz). Switching would be done using, say,
a 555 timer. I would control the RMS current draw by varying the pulse
width. This would then be fed to my 10kW single phase pole pig. I guess
the core would heat up a bit, but apparently silicon steel isn't too bad
at handling a square wave for short periods. Questions:

1. Is this possible?
2. What complications would I run into?
3. Can the pole pig really handle a low frequency (50Hz) square wave?
4. Suggestions?

Cheers,

Greg Peters
Department of Earth Sciences,
University of Queensland, Australia
Phone: 0402 841 677
http://www.geocities-dot-com/gregjpeters