Abstract
<jats:p>This article examines the negative impacts on power quality during the operation of electric arc furnaces, with a particular focus on voltage asymmetry and reactive power flows. The need to ensure continuous furnace operation and maintain high temperatures imposes stringent requirements on the stability and quality of power supply. Accordingly, the primary goal of this study is to improve power quality and enhance the efficiency of the technological process by optimally selecting the thyristor firing angle in a thyristor-based control system. In this context, the firing angle is used as a control parameter influencing the compensation of reactive power in non-working phases, and is optimized using a genetic algorithm (GA). In the proposed model, the objective function incorporates criteria related to reactive power flows and voltage asymmetry. The results demonstrate that selecting an optimal firing angle significantly improves the system’s power quality indicators and substantially reduces voltage asymmetry.</jats:p>