Name Abhijit Dilip Mahale

Prn 10303320181129310018

Subject Electrical Power Quality

Unit Long Duration voltage Variations.

Topic Flicker Sources and mitigation.

 #Case study - 03
Flicker is a power quality problem that affects our daily lives. A single light intensity change
can be extremely annoying, depending on the voltage fluctuation amplitude and frequency. In
this case study, we will understand how voltage fluctuations may originate in the power
system, but most frequently they are generated by the equipment or load connected to it, for
example, arc furnaces, welders, etc. The reason for this disturbance is mainly due to the large
nonlinear loads such as electric arc furnaces. Due to the latest achievements in the
semiconductors industry and consequently the emergence of the compensators based on
voltage source converters, FACTS devices have been gradually noticed to be used for voltage
flicker compensation.
Introduction:
Flicker was always considered a power quality problem for only incandescent lamps, but the
phenomenon is now becoming noticeable in fluorescent lamps due to the increasing system
pollution with interharmonics. Voltage fluctuations may originate in the power system, but
most frequently they originate in the equipment or load connected to it. The primary
generators of voltage fluctuation are arc furnaces, welders, alternators, and motors. Utilities
and potential users of flicker-generating equipment should estimate their effect on other
customers beforehand. There are several empirical formulae and graphs that give
approximate voltage perturbations. Some simple measures are available that can mitigate the
flicker effect. If no measures are applicable, the solution will demand a large investment on
auxiliary equipment or electric system changes, or a large limitation on power availability.
Voltage Fluctuation:
Flicker is defined as the "impression of fluctuating brightness or color, occurring when the
frequency of observed variation lies between a few hertz and the fusion frequency of
images." When the voltage magnitude varies due to fast load changes, power flow to the
equipment will normally vary. If the variation is large enough or is within a certain critical
frequency range, the equipment performance can be affected. The main problem of voltage
fluctuations is usually the effect on lighting loads, mainly when the illumination of the lamp
varies with frequencies between 1 and 10 Hz. Additionally, the phenomenon can slightly
affect other types of loads, e.g., motors, electronic devices, and process controllers.
Voltage fluctuation is a voltage regulation issue, which is a major problem in the electric
power industry. The principal source of voltage fluctuation leading to flicker is the electric
arc furnace. Steel companies are building more large-capacity arc furnaces, as the cost of
producing steel with such furnaces has become more competitive in comparison with the cost
of other processes. Besides, air pollution is more easily controlled with arc furnaces than with
other types of furnaces. Electric utilities generally consider arc furnaces as desirable loads
due to the large amount of power required and the high power factor (between 75 and 90%);
however, arc furnaces cause numerous problems to the utility. Other loads that can generate
voltage fluctuation, such as welders and wind turbines, do not reach the magnitude of the arc
furnace perturbations. Sometimes the term voltage fluctuation is erroneously used as voltage
sag, due to the old concept that any change in the lamp intensity is a "light flicker." Voltage
sag is a reduction in the rms magnitude of the voltage from 10 to 90% with a duration from
0.5 cycle to 1 minute. Noncyclic flicker is defined as that corresponding to occasional voltage
fluctuations (less frequently than once per hour) such as that caused by the starting of a
motor, a phenomenon considered today as voltage sag. The repetitive character and voltage
change magnitude are the principal differences between the two phenomena. The concept of
voltage fluctuation involves voltage magnitude and frequency of occurrence. A utility's main
concern is usually the restriction placed upon an individual industry due
to the effect upon other customers. Some utilities are concerned with whether unacceptable
voltage fluctuations in a system will result in complaints from customers actually
experiencing light flicker.

Arc Furnaces:
Electric arc furnace loads often represent the single largest customer of an electric power
utility system. Today, it is not unusual to provide power to arc furnace plants with supply
transformer ratings in excess of 100 MVA. Installations with 200 MVA rating have also been
reported. A typical arc furnace will produce about 1 ton of steel per hour per MW of power
input. About 450 to 600 kWh of heat energy are required to process a ton of cold scrap into
usable molten steel. The arc is sustained by an alternating current, and direct current furnaces
are beginning to be popular. In the event that the arc length would not change with time, the
arc voltage/current characteristic would be time-invariant. The furnace would not give rise to
voltage fluctuations at the point of common coupling (PCC), but only to voltage and current
harmonics due to the intrinsic nonlinearity of the arc characteristic. Voltage Variation Studies
Extensive studies on arc furnace loads have shown that voltage variations, which it generates,
with multiple frequencies, can produce objectionable light flicker. Currently the main cause
of customer complaints due to light flicker is the voltage fluctuation generated by arc
furnaces. An arc furnace can operate without causing interference if the short circuit power at
the supply terminal, when at its lowest level, is at least 80 to 100 times higher than the
furnace power, a figure that should be halved when applied to dc furnaces. This
approximation is extensively used as a rule-of-thumb for initial assessment. However, the two
parameters that mainly determine voltage fluctuations produced by the furnace are the system
impedance up to PCC and the impedance of the transformer plus the furnace. In 1966, a new
constant was defined, the short circuit voltage depression (SCVD), which relates the arc
furnace size to the system strength, that is, the change in voltage at the PCC occurring when
the furnace electrodes are taken from open to short circuit by dipping them in the molten
charge. As the SCVD value changes with the arc furnace size, a survey was carried out in the
U.K. in order to find the relationship between this value and the number of customer
complaints. One of the actual trends is to use the SCVD value as a rough guide, in order to
determine if the present situation is acceptable or further study is necessary. Furthermore, it
can be decided at the design stage whether a planned installation of a new furnace will cause
objectionable flicker. The rapid improvements of power electronics technologies have
enabled ac competitive applications requiring high power rectification, one of which is the dc
arc furnace. The number of dc arc furnace installations has increased rapidly in recent years
(the first one was started in Germany in 1982), with the size of a single unit reaching over
200 MW. The dc furnace typically has less than one-third to one-half of the voltage
fluctuations of an ac arc furnace of similar size.

Mitigation of Voltage Fluctuations

When compared with other power quality troublesome emissions, flicker emission lends itself
to being quite expensive to solve. Repercussions on main supplies can be moderated by
altering conditions in the supply, for example, increasing the furnace reactance by installing a
choke. However, this leads to undesirable power reduction. Reducing the system reactance by
reinforcing the main supply, or by moving the PCC upstream, both are quite expensive
measures. Light flicker caused by arc furnaces is mainly due to the reactive power flow from
the system; therefore, any measure taken towards its control will partially reduce voltage
fluctuations. A major advantage is that the reactive power supplied for the VAR compensator
increases the steel production considerably. The main mitigation methodologies are as
follows.

1. Synchronous Condenser: The first solution was implemented by the installation of

synchronous condensers in parallel with the system as a means of reducing system reactance.
With the development of high-power semiconductors and SVCs, the synchronous condenser
was replaced, however, a few are still in operation.

2. Shunt Capacitors: It is very economical to supply the base load vars by shunt capacitors.
The scheme has a relatively long response time and the possibility to compensate only for the
fundamental frequency reactive current of the load. One of the inconveniences is that a shunt
capacitor introduces harmonics; therefore, it must be combined with a passive filter bank.
Due to fast voltage variations, the only way to mitigate flicker is by switching the capacitors
at a speed comparable with that of the voltage fluctuation.

3. Series Capacitors: Being in series with the entire power circuit, they are instantaneous in
their corrective effect, which is a most valuable advantage since any change in line current
causes an immediate change in compensation voltage. The main disadvantage is that the
capacitors should be large enough to carry all loads beyond their points of installation.
Another inconvenience is originated in the presence of harmonics near the subharmonic
resonance frequency that can cause the spark over of the capacitor overvoltage protection
(spark gap). Generally, the cost is too high for the correction obtained.