Compensation of waveform distortions and voltage fluctuations of DC arc furnaces: the decoupled compensator

DC arc furnaces are more and more applied in large industrial power systems. They represent a source of perturbations for the feeding system, in dependence on the available short-circuit power at the point of common coupling and on the arc furnace rating. This paper deals with the problem of the compensation of perturbations due to DC arc furnaces behavior; in particular, the application of a new device, the decoupled compensator, is investigated. The study is performed with reference to a typical DC arc furnace and by using computer simulations developed by means of power system blockset, that is a tool of Matlab. Waveform distortions and voltage fluctuations indices are assessed in presence and in absence of the compensation device.