Spline-based analysis of electric arc furnaces

In this paper, a method based on the theory of spline functions is developed to estimate the optimal operating conditions of electric arc furnaces. Voltage and current waveforms with distortions are approximated by spline polynomials. These spline polynomials are used in the time-domain analysis of a furnace power circuit. The active power deployed at the tips of the furnace electrodes is determined by the overlapping of the voltage and current splines. The optimal phase angle to deliver maximum active power depends on the relative position of these waveforms. Results from the application of the proposed spline technique to data from a simulator and an actual furnace are compared against the traditional optimization method. It is shown that the proposed spline technique outperforms the traditional one. Conclusions addressing the advantages and limitations of the spline-based analysis of electric arc furnaces are given.