Juan Carlos Barbero

Power quality measurements in a steel industry with electric arc furnaces

Many loads connected to electric power systems can cause power quality problems at all voltage levels and for very different power ratings due to their unbalanced and non-linear behavior characteristics. This paper describes the aspects of power quality at the point of common coupling (PCC) where an arc furnace for steel melting with alternating current is connected. By measurements of Flicker, harmonics content in voltage and current, active and reactive power and power factor, the preservation of the reference levels for the supply voltage and emission limits for the furnace as a customer are evaluated. The evaluation of power quality of contemporary International and Argentinian standards is given. The different phases in the operation of the arc furnace are described in detail and illustrated with measurements.

Assessment of Power Quality indices over a decade of control in Argentinian distribution system

The electricity distribution service in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area of Argentina, which was privatized in the early nineties, is carried out by three different Utilities and the control is performed by a Regulatory Agency (ENRE).

Compatibility between Disturbance Emission and Argentinian Power Quality Regulations in Iron and Steel Industries

Measurements and studies developed to mitigate harmonic and flicker emission to public networks are presented in this paper. Two different real cases are analyzed. The first one is a new electric furnace with low power factor, which is added to the load consisting of other existing furnaces. The installation had a reactive compensation bank which, according to measurements and studies, would cause harmonic resonance with weak public networks. As technical solution, a dumped C-type filter was designed, taking advantage of the existing bank, to comply with limits established by ENRE 99/97 and IEEE 519/1992. The other case deals with a 2.5 MW electric arc furnace fed from the public MV network. The carried out measurements harmonics, voltage and current unbalances, active and reactive power, power factor and flicker determined that the high flicker level was the most critical disturbance. In addition, the compensation factors required to comply with reference levels and also to determine the dimension of the suitable static compensator were calculated

Evaluación y diagnóstico de fallas en una trefiladora industrial

An important company located in an Industrial Park on the outskirts of Buenos Aires detected a sudden electrical failure in the plant, which used to affect the normal operation of a brand new wire stripping machine. Naturally, such a failure used to lead to significant losses on the production process. For this reason, the issue needed to be addressed in the short term.