Arc-furnace corrective equipment using a high value of buffer reactance

This paper describes an effective solution to the voltage-flicker problem associated with electric arc furnaces. It is a solution that resulted from close co-operation between the steel company, utility, consulting engineers, and equipment manufacturers. The performance during more than one year of operation has been highly satisfactory in all respects. In the past, the voltage-flicker problem has been solved by (1) the use of a series capacitor, a standard reactance synchronous condenser, and a buffer reactor; (2) the use of a special low-reactance condenser and a buffer reactor; (3) the use of a separate bus. In this installation a standard reactance condenser and a high value of buffer reactance were used to obtain the following benefits: (1) satisfactory flicker performance, (2) power-factor correction, (3) automatic voltage regulation, (4) low installed cost, and (5) low maintenance cost.