abstract
- © 1972-2012 IEEE.Electric arc furnaces (EAFs) are processes with an intensive consumption of energy; in modern arc furnaces, the specific energy conception range is around 0.5 MWh per ton of produced liquid steel. In such furnaces, small improvements in efficiency represent significant savings. Electric arcs are highly nonlinear and chaotic, and their use in the arc furnaces for scrap melting introduces a very high harmonic distortion in the power systems. To improve the understanding of power phenomena at the arc furnaces, this article proposes the application of the current's physical components power theory, and based on this analysis, an interpretation of each current component is provided. Real EAF voltage and current measurements are computed for a complete melting and heating process. This article proposes the use of the current components as performance indicators and gives some ideas about how to improve the operation and control to optimize the electrical energy used at the arc furnaces.