Flicker meter results of simulated new and conventional TSC compensators for electric arc furnaces

Electric arc furnaces (EAFs) play a very important role in the hostile and rugged conditions of steel plants. By far the most important source of irregular fluctuations on a supply system is the EAF. Voltage fluctuations caused by the EAF, at their severest, are reflected as light flicker to other consumers connected to the point of common coupling (PCC). Reactive power compensators are employed to reduce the effect of load disturbances on the PCC. The authors discuss development of a new configuration of the thyristor switched capacitor (TSC) compensator, the anti-polarized TSC. Results indicate that this compensator has a much improved performance compared to the conventional TSC. A method of evaluating worst-case performance applicable to any compensator configuration is also described