Benchmark of high-power STATCOM topologies for flicker compensation

The current from an electrical arc furnace (EAF) in a steel plant is highly unsymmetrical, i.e. it comprises a large amount of negative sequence. This causes problems with the voltage stability in the capacitor submodules for a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM), when implemented using the modular multilevel converter (M2C) concept. In order to counteract the uncontrollability of the capacitor voltage, a common practice is to circulate a zero-sequence fundamental current or a direct current. The method brings the benefit of re-balancing the active power among the individual phases while it requires over-rating of the valve current or dc voltage of the STATCOM. This would in practice give a more expensive design. This paper presents a benchmark of various M2C-based STATCOM designs considering the valve overrating. The STATCOM topologies will be benchmarked with the EAF modeled for all possible combinations of positive-and negative-sequence current. The rating comparison considering the dc capacitor ripple and zero-sequence harmonic injection are discussed.