Mitigation of AC arc furnace voltage flicker using the unified power quality conditioner

The application of deregulation policy in the power sector has emphasized the need for new tools, which are capable of tracking and mitigating the voltage disturbances caused by nonlinear loads. This paper introduces a new strategy to track and mitigate the voltage flicker and the unbalance produced by large AC arc furnaces. The mitigation strategy depends on an innovative technique for voltage disturbance extraction, which uses symmetrical components. This paper proves that The unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) is capable of suppressing the entire voltage disturbance in the industrial system. Results of digital simulation are presented to validate and verify the control strategy and to assess the performance of UPQC to mitigate the voltage flicker and the unbalance produced by AC arc furnace.