2011 International Conference on Recent Advancements in Electrical, Electronics and Control Engineering

Simulation of Electric Arc Furnace Characteristics for Voltage Flicker study using MATLAB
D. C. Bhonsle
Electrical Engineering Department CKPCET, Gujarat Technological University Surat, INDIA dcbhonsle@gmail.com
AbstractPower quality is becoming a more concern of todays power system engineer due to the rapid growth of non-linear loads, such as power electronic control equipments and electric arc furnace (EAF). Harmonics and voltage flicker are the power quality problems which are introduced to the power system as result of non-linear behavior of the electric arc furnace operation. Electric arc furnace model is needed to analyze the power quality. There are numbers of arc furnace models. This paper presents a time domain model called exponentialhyperbolic for electric arc furnace using MATLAB. The model is used to study its behavior on the power system using MATLAB. To analyze the method, several characteristics for different operating conditions are investigated. Keywords-Power quality, flicker, EAF, MATLAB.

R. B. Kelkar
Electrical Engineering Department Faculty of Technology, M S University of Baroda Vadodara, INDIA

This paper presents simulation of the EAF model in the time domain using MATLAB. The main feature of the proposed model is modeling of the explained method with a good approximation without need of initial conditions of the EAF. Also, the proposed method can be used to describe different operating situations of the EAF and its effect of the connected electric network. II. SUPPLY NETWORK

Figure 1 shows a simple single phase electric network of a source which supplies an EAF [2].

I.

INTRODUCTION

The EAF is inherently non-linear and time-variant loads and it can cause power quality problems such as harmonics and voltage flicker. Odd and even harmonic currents are generated by EAF operation. These harmonic currents, when circulated in the electric network can generate harmonic voltages which in turn can affect other users. Flicker is the sensation that is experienced by human eye when subjected to changes in the illumination intensity. The maximum sensitivity to change in illumination is in the frequency range of 5 to 15 Hz. As EAF is a large source of flicker, causes voltage fluctuation in the connected electric network. Hence, modeling of EAF has attracted attention of power system engineers to solve these problems pertaining to EAF. The important issue in the modeling of the arc is the simulation of arc. There are several methods used to describe the electric arc [1]. The balanced steady state equations are used in. The time domain methods based on the differential equations are also presented. Other methods such as frequency response, V-I characteristic are employed to analyze the behavior of the EAF [2]. Comparison of EAF modeling in time domain and frequency domain shows that he time domain is more useful in studying the EAF[1-2]. In the above explained methods, there are some limitations such as initial conditions for the differential equations, balanced situation of thee phase currents and use of complicated mathematical equation for the modeling of EAF.

Figure 1. Electric network supplying an EAF

In Fig. 1, the system impedance is represented as Zs, bus PCC represents the point of common coupling, and bus AF is the low voltage side of the transformer whose impedance is given by Zt. The system parameters are tabulated in Table 1.
TABLE I. ELECTRIC SYSYTEM AND EAF MODEL PARAMETERSABLE Item(s) Parameters V=415 V System f=50 Hz Zs=(0.0528+j0.468) m Zt=(0.3366+j3.22) m Vat=200 V C=19 kW EAF D=5 kA I0=20 kA Vat0=200 V

978-1-4577-2149-6/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

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III.

MODELING OF EAF AS LOAD B. Model 2:ExponentialModel In this model, the VIC of the EAF is approximated by exponential function as:

In this part, the modeling of EAF is performed using the estimation of the voltage and current of the electric arc. This modeling is based on Fig. 2, which shows the actual VIC and piecewise linearization in reference [1, 2, 3, and 5].

V (i ) = V at 1 e (i

I0 )

) signum (i )

(6)

In this equation a current constant (I0) is employed to model the steepness of positive and negative currents. C. Model 3:Combined Model of Model 1 & 2 This model is proposed in [5]. The VIC of the electric arc is described as:

Figure 2. The actual V-I characteristic of EAF

C V at + + i for di dt 0 and i > 0 V (i ) = D V 1 e i I 0 signum (i ) for di dt 0 and i > 0 at

As can be seen from Fig. 2, the electric arc consists of four major parts as tabulated in Table 2 [3]:
TABLE II. Area Area 1 Area 2 Area 3 Area 4 MAJOR PARTS OF AN ELECTRIC ARC CHARACTERISTIC Condition (di/dt)>0, v & i>0 (di/dt)<0, v & i>0 (di/dt)<0, v & i<0 (di/dt)>0, v & i<0 Equation No. (1) (2) (3) (4)

(7) The combined model has the capability of describing the EAF behavior in time domain. Also the combined model can explains various operating conditions of the EAF such as initial melting, mild melting and refinement. The various circuit constants utilized in the various models are tabulated below. IV. SIMULATION The EAF along with the electric system shown in Fig. 1 has been modeled using the Simulink/MATLAB shown in Fig. 39. The EAF is modeled as a non-linear time varying voltage controlled source using Embeded program function/MATLAB. The arc current is taken as the input parameter to this function and the output is non-linear time varying voltage. MATLAB file of the same is shown in Figure 39. Dynamic EAF model is required for real time analysis of the effect of the arc. The dynamic arc characteristic is simulated by varying arc conductance. In general the variation is of random nature. However two types of variation are considered for the study-sinusoidal and random. In order to study the effect of voltage flicker on the system of EAF, Vat is varied sinusoidally and randomly. In this regard Vat is modulated as follows: The sinusoidal variation is assumed as:

According to Table 2, Eq. 1 is similar to Eq. 4 and Eq. 2 is also similar to Eq. 3. However, the sign of voltage and the current in the similar ones are opposite. Thus the arc voltage can be expressed as a function of the arc current in their region. For this purpose in the following, the equations of EAF are analyzed using three different models based on the VIC of the electric arc. A. Model 1: Hyperbolic Model In this model, the VIC of the EAF is considered to be in the form of V=V (I) and it can be described as:

C V (i ) = V at + + i D

(5)

V at (t ) = V at 0 1 + m sin f t

( )]

(8)

Where V and i are arc voltage and arc current per phase. Vat is the threshold magnitude. Vat is the magnitude of the voltage threshold to which the voltage approaches as current increases. This voltage is dependent on the arc length which is defined by constants C and D taking care of arc power and arc current respectively.

where m is modulation index and f is a flicker frequency. For random flicker generation Vat is modulated with a random signal having the mean of zero with the frequency band in the rage of 4-14 Hz [3]. Thus vat is written as:

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V at (t ) = V at 0 [1 + m N (t )]

(9)

in the furnace. Hence behavior of VIC is also uniform. This condition do not produces any flicker at PCC. 2) Arc Voltage
Arc Voltage of Model 1 (Static)
250 200

where, N(t) is a band limited white noise with zero mean and variance of one. MATLAB simulation file for equations (8) & (9) are shown in Figure 40 (a) & (b). V. SIMULATION RESULTS

150 100 Arc Voltage (V) 50 0 -50 -100 -150 -200 -250 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 Time (S) 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1

The simulated results are presented as a comparison of three models of EAF-hyperbolic, exponential and combined. The values used in the equation (5), (6) and (7) are tabulated in Table 1[3]. A. Steady State Characteristics 1) Arc Current
Arc Current of Model 1 (Static)
300

Figure 6. Arc Voltage of Hyperbolic Model

Arc Voltage of Model 2 (Static)

200 Arc Current (A)*250 100 0 -100 -200 -300

200 150 100 Arc Voltage (V)

0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 Time (S) 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1

50 0 -50 -100 -150 -200 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 Time (S) 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1

Figure 3. Arc Current of Hyperbolic Model

Figure 7. Arc Voltage of Exponential Model

Arc Current of Model 2 (Static)
400 300 200 Arc Current (A) 100 0 -100 -200 -300 -400 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 Time (S) 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1
Arc Curre nt/250

Arc Voltage of Model 3 (Static)

250 200 150 100 Arc Voltage (V) 50 0 -50 -100 -150 -200 -250 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 Time (S) 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1

Figure 4. Arc Current of Exponential Model

Arc Current of Model 3 (Static)

400
Arc Current/250

Figure 8. Arc Voltage of Combined Model

300 200 Arc Current (A) 100

3) VIC
V-I Characteristic of Model 1 (Static)
300 200

0 -100 -200 -300 -400

Arc Voltage (V) 100 0 -100 -200 -300 -300

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05 0.06 Time (S)

0.07

0.08

0.09

0.1

Figure 5. Arc Current of Combined Model

-200

-100

0 Arc Current (A)*250

100

200

300

This group represents steady state characteristics of three models of EAF i.e. arc length is kept constant, which demonstrates refining condition of an EAF. In this condition, the level of molted material is constant and melting is uniform

Figure 9. VIC of Hyperbolic Model

Typical waveforms of arc current, arc voltage VIC and arc conductance are presented in Figure 3 to 17 for three models of EAF.

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V-I Characterisic f Model 2 (Static)
200 150 100 Arc Voltage (V) 50 0 -50 -100 -150 -200 -300 -200 -100 0 Arc Crrent (A) 100 200 300
Arc Current (A) Arc Voltage (V) 400 300 200 100 0 -100 -200 -300 -400

Arc Current and Arc Voltage of odel 3 (Static)

Arc Curre nt/250 Arc Voltag

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05 0.06 Time (S)

0.07

0.08

0.09

0.1

Figure 10. VIC of Exponential Model

V-I Characteristic of Model 3 (Static)
250

Figure 14. Arc Voltage and Arc Current of Combined Model

5) Arc Conductance
Arc Conductance of Model 1 (Static)
200 150
Conductance (Mho) 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

100 Arc Voltage (V) 50 0 -50 -100 -150 -200 -250 -300 -200 -100 0 Arc Current (A) 100 200 300

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05 0.06 Time (S)

0.07

0.08

0.09

0.1

Figure 15. Arc Conductance variation of Exponential Model

Arc Conductance of Model 2 (Static)
450

Figure 11. VIC of Combined Model

4) Arc Voltage and Arc Current

Arc Conductance (Mho)

400 350 300 250 200 150 100

Arc Current and Arc Voltage (Static)

Arc Current/250

300 200 Arc Current (A) Arc Voltage(V) 100 0 -100 -200 -300 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 Time (S) 0.07 0.08

Arc Voltage

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05 0.06 Time (S)

0.07

0.08

0.09

0.1

Figure 16. Arc Conductance variation of Combined Model

0.09 0.1

Arc Conductance of Model 3 (Static)

450 400 Arc Conductance (Mho) 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 Time (S) 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1

Figure 12. Arc Voltage and Arc Current of Hyperbolic Model

Arc Current and Arc Voltage of Model 2 (Static)

400 300 200 Arc Current (A) Arc Voltage (V) 100 0 -100 -200 -300 -400 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 Time (S) 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1
Arc Current/250 Arc Voltage

Figure 17. Arc Conductance variation of Combined Model

Figure 13. Arc Voltage and Arc Current of Exponential Model

Power consumption during EAF operation is also one of the important features to look upon. It helps in designing process of filters to mitigate harmonics and voltage flickers for EAF power quality improvement. Due to constant length of arc, active and reactive power consumption during steady state is also constant. It can be seen from Figures 18 & 19 that active power consumption is more in case of Exponential Model than the Hyperbolic Model. More ever, reactive power demand is more in the Hyperbolic Model than the Exponential Model.

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2011 International Conference on Recent Advancements in Electrical, Electronics and Control Engineering
9 8 7 Active Power (P) Reactive Power (Q) 6 5 4 3 2 1 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 Time (S) 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
P Q

x 10

Active and Reactie Power (PQ) (Static)

500 400 300 200 Arc Current(A) Arc Voltae (V) 100 0 -100 -200 -300 -400 -500 0.02

Arc Current and Arc Voltage of Model 1 (Dynamic) 2

Arc Current/250 Arc Voltage

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1 Time (S)

0.12

0.14

0.16

0.18

0.2

Figure 18. PQ of Hyperbolic Model

Figure 21. Arc Voltage and Arc Current for Sinusoidal Flicker of Hyperbolic Model
Arc Current and Arc Voltage for Sinusoidal Variaion of Model 2 (Dynamic)
500 400
Arc Current/250 Arc Vltage

12 10

x 10

Active Power and Reactive Power of Model 2 (PQ) (Static)

300

Active Power (P) Reactive Power (Q)

8
Arc Current (A) Arc Voltage (V)

200 100 0

6
P

4 2

-100 -200 -300

0 -2

-400 -500 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 Time (S) 0.5 0.6

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25 Time (S)

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

Figure 19. PQ of Exponential Model

Figure 22. Arc Voltage and Arc Current for Sinusoidal Flicker of Exponential Model
Arc Current and Arc oltage for Sinusoidal Variatio of Model 3 (Dynamic) 2
500
Arc Current/250

10

x 10

Active Power and Reactive Power (PQ) of Model 3 (Static)

400

Arc Volage

8 Active Power (P) Reactive Power (Q)

Arc Current (A) Arc Voltage (V)

300 200

6
P Q

100 0 -100 -200

2
-300 -400 -500 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2

-2

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5
Time (S)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Figure 20. PQ of Combined Model

Figure 23. Arc Voltage and Arc Current for Sinusoidal Flicker of Combined Model

Also it is observed that the active and reactive power variation range is higher in case of Hyperbolic Model than that of Exponential Model. B. Dynamic Characteristics The effect of voltage flicker on the system with EAF can be studies using voltage variation with reference to time. As described in section IV, the effects of two types of flicker on the dynamic characteristic of the EAF are studies. Results of the simulation are obtained using equations (8) & (9) with values given in Table 1[5]. 1) Sinusoidal Flicker Results for sinusoidal flickers are presented in Figures 21 to 23, which shows the variation of arc voltage and arc current. It can be seen that if the furnace load generates sinusoidal

flicker, the arc voltage and arc current, are varied sinusoidally with the flicker frequency.
10 x 10
6

Active and Reactive Power (PQ) (Dynamic)

P Q

Active Power (P) Reactive Power (Q)

-2 0

0.1

0.2

0.3 Time (S)

0.4

0.5

0.6

Figure 24. PQ of Hyperbolic Model

The active and the reactive power consumption pattern during sinusoidal flicker is shown in Figures 24 to 26.

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12 10 8 6 4 2
-400
6 x 10 Active and Reactive Power for Sinusoidal Variation of Mode 2 (Dynamic)
P Q

Arc Current and Arc Voltage for Random Variation of Model 2 (ynaic)
800
Arc Current/250 Arc Voltage

600 400 Arc Current (A) Arc Votage (V) 200 0 -200

Active Power (P) Reactive Power (Q)

0
-600 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4

-2

0.5 Time (S)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5 Time (S)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Figure 25. PQ of Exponential Model

Figure 28. Arc Voltage and Arc Current for Random Flicker of Exponential Model
Arc Current and Arc Voltage for Random Vaiation of Model 3 (Dynamic) 2
800

12 10

x 10

Active Power and Reactive Power for Random Variation of Model 2 (Dynamic)

Arc Current/250

600 400 Arc Current (A) Arc Voltage 200 0 -200 -400

Arc Voltage

8 Active Power (P) Reactive Power (Q) 6

P

4 2 0 -2 -4

-600 -800

0.05

0.1

0.15 Time (S)

0.2

0.25

0.3

Figure 29. Arc Voltage and Arc Current for Random Flicker of
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Time (S) 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Combined Model

Figure 26. PQ of Combined Model

Active Power (P) Reactive Power (Q)

Typical pattern is exhibited by active power and reactive power consumption waveforms. The active power consumption is more in case of Exponential Model than that of Hyperbolic Model. Vice versa is the situation for reactive power consumption. 2) Random Flicker

10

x 10

6 Active and Reactive Power (PQ) for Random Variation of Model (Dynamic)

-5 0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

Arc Current and Arc Voltage for Random Varition of Model 1 (Dynamic)
500 400 300 Arc Current (A) Arc Voltage (V) 200 100 0
Active Power (P) Reactive Power (Q) 8 10 x 10
6
Arc Curre nt/250 Arc Voltage

Figure 30. PQ of Hyperbolic Model

0.5 Time (S)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Active Power and Reactive Power for Sinusoidal Variation of Model 3 (Dynamic)
P Q

-100 -200 -300 -400 0.4 0.42 0.44 0.46 0.48 0.5 Time (S) 0.52 0.54 0.56 0.58 0.6

Figure 27. Arc Voltage and Arc Current for Random Flicker of Hyperbolic Model

-2

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5 Time (S)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Figure 31. PQ of Exponential Model

The simulation results for random flicker are presented in Figures 27 to 29. The pattern of the active and reactive power consumption for various three models has been shown in Figures 30 to 32. The active power consumption is more in case of Exponential model than the Hyperbolic Model and vice versa is the situation for reactive power consumption.

The active power consumption is more in case of sinusoidally varying flicker than the randomly varying flicker for Hyperbolic Model as seen from Figures 31 & 34.

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10 x 10
6

Active Power and Reactive Power for Random Variation of Model 3 (Dynamic)
P Q

4) Arc Conductance variation

Arc Codctance for Random Variation of Model 1 (Dynamic)
2500

Active Power (P) Reactive Power (Q)

5
Arc Conductance (Mho) 2000

1500

1000

500

-5

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5 Time (S)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1
0 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 Time (S) 0.8 0.9

Figure 32. PQ of Combined Model

Figure 36. Arc Conductance of Hyperbolic Model

3) VIC
V-I Characteristic of Model 1 (Dynamic)
400
Arc Current/250

Arc Conductance for Random Variation f Model 2 (Dynamic)

3000

300

2500 Arc Conductance (Mho)

-400 -300 -200 -100 0 100 Arc Current (A) 200 300 400 500

200 Arc Volage (V) 100 0 -100 -200 -300 -400 -500

2000

1500

1000

500

Figure 33. VIC of Hyperbolic Model

V-I Characteristic for Sinusoidal Variation of Model 2 (Dynamic)
400 300 200 100 0 -100 -200 -300 -400
0 Arc Conductance (Mho) 2000
Arc Current/250

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5 Time (S)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Figure 37. Arc Conductance of Exponential Model

Arc Conductance for Random Variation of Model 3 (Dynamic)
2500

Arc Voltage (V)

1500

1000

500

-400

-300

-200

-100 0 100 Arc Current (A)

200

300

400

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5 Time (S)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Figure 34. VIC of Exponential Model

V-I Characteristic for Sinusoidal Variation of Model 3 (Dynamic) 400 300 200 Arc Voltage (V) 100 0 -100 -200 -300 -400 -500

Figure 38. Arc Conductance of Combined Model

The arc conductance variation for various models for random flicker are shown in Figures 36 to 28. VI. CONCLUSIONS

-400

-300

-200

-100 0 100 Arc Current (A)

200

300

400

500

This study investigates the existing hyperbolic, exponential and combined models for electric arc furnace. The combined model does not require any initial conditions for modeling the arc. The combined model describes most of the specifications of EAF. The combined model is useful for studying power quality aspects such as voltage flicker. The combined model can be used for studying effect of harmonics as well. Sinusoidal and random-these two types of voltage flickers are been carried out. The combined model with its typical EAF characteristics is useful to design and to validate voltage flicker mitigation and harmonic mitigation techniques such as static var compensator, active filters, etc. to improve power quality at point of common coupling (PCC).

Figure 35. VIC of Combined Model

The VICs of dynamic state for three models has been presented in the Figures 33 to 35.

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VII. REFERENCES
[1] Zheng T., Makram E. B. and Girgis A. A., Effect of different arc furnace models on voltage distortion, IEEE Transactions , International Conference on Harmonics and Quality of Power, 14-18 October 1998, Volume 2, pp. 1079-1085 Golkar M. A and Meschi S., MATLAB Modeling of arc furnace for flicker study IEEE Conference on Industrial Technology (ICIT), 1-6, 2008. Rahmatallah Hooshmand, Mahdi Banejad and Mahdi Torabian Esfahani, A New Time Domain Model for Electric Arc Furnace, Journal of Electrical Engineering, Vol. 59, No. 4, 195-202, 2008.

[4]

[5]

Mahdi Banejad, Rahmat-Allah Hooshmand and Mahdi Torabian Esfahani, Exponential-Hyperbolic Model for Actual Operating conditions of Three Phase Arc Furnaces, American Journal of Applied Scinces 6 (*):1539-1547, 2009. K. Anuradha, B. P. Muni and A. D. Raj Kumar, Modeling of Electric Arc Furnace & Control Algorithms for voltage flicker mitigation using DSTATCOM, IPEMC, 1123-1129, 2009.

[2]

[3]

C o ntinuo us powergui
Vt Vt

Flicker Generation Ran

Flicker Generation Sin

Vt

fcn + Zs Zt i i

V-I Char

AC Source
s -

Divide

XY Graph Iarc Varc G

C VS

Scope

Figure 39. Complete Simulink/MATLAB file of Simulation

Band-Limited White Noise

Product Add Product1 1 200 Vt0

1 Vt

Sine

Product Add Product1

1 Vt

0.8 m

0.8 m

200 Vt0

Figure 40. Simulink/MATLAB Simulation of (a) Random Flicker and (b) Sinusoidal Flicker

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