Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>This document is focused on the impact of large Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) on the electrical grids. This equipment has become central to the steelmaking industry's decarbonisation efforts, which has significantly increased research activities on this topic in recent years. But the new challenges in the steel making industry are forcing us to go one step forward looking for new technologies and models. Using MATLAB/Simulink software as modelling tool, both 'classic' AC EAF and multipulse converter-fed EAF models are compared for power quality analysis (harmonics, displacement factor and voltage variations) at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC). The analysis highlights the benefits, from the grid's perspective, of managing the control of an electric arc furnace using a multi-pulse converter. This approach significantly reduces the reactive power demand and improves the power factor at the PCC, increasing it up to 0.87. This improvement allows for a reduction in Static Var Compensator (SVC) power requirements, minimizes losses, and lowers the RMS value of the current demand. Additionally, harmonic currents are mostly shifted to higher frequencies beyond those of the multipulse topology, making them more effectively filtered by the stray reactances of the connection transformer. As a result, harmonic voltage distortion rates at the PCC are significantly reduced by - 37% to 44\% - depending on the process phase, compared to those observed with a traditional furnace in the same phases.</p>