The shocking truth about poor power quality

MTE Corporation helps mitigate the hidden costs of electrical power quality in your operation

By Ahsan Javed, MTE Corp.

Electrical power quality is an often-overlooked contributing factor to the uptime, safety and profitability of an oil and gas operation. Unplanned downtime due to lack of compliance with local utilities, equipment damage or malfunction can easily cost upwards of several hundred thousand dollars per day, severely impacting the financials of an onshore rig. Maintaining power quality and implementing preventative measures can help to proactively prevent and mitigate many of these issues.

POWER QUALITY CHALLENGES

The majority of well operators place little emphasis on power quality, thus many of the issues can be mistakenly diagnosed as standard operation or “ghosts in the machine.” At their most benign, these can manifest themselves as nuisance tripping, or failed relays and capacitors. However, even these relatively minor issues can result in expensive maintenance and downtime. More impactful concerns can be motor and equipment failure, and downhole sensor interference which can cause errant, or unsafe operation, and result in extensive equipment damage or lost time safety incidents. Sending out a maintenance crew several hundred miles with the correct part can sometimes takes days or weeks, resulting in reduced productivity.

THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM

The growing use of variable frequency drives (VFD) in oil extraction operations, such as electrical submersible pumps (ESP’s), is accompanied by increasing, unwanted harmonics within the electrical system. VFDs use pulse width modulation (PWM) to control electrical motors, a method that creates many impulses or edges, resulting in harmful harmonics on the power and control cables. These harmonics cause “pollution” of the electrical signals, commonly manifested as common-mode or differential mode noise.

In addition, the remote nature of many extraction operations means that utility power will likely be less than ideal and require harmonic mitigation prevention on the line side in compliance with IEEE519. Environmental factors, such as storms and lightning, can also play a factor and wreak havoc with surges on electrical systems.

SOLVING POWER QUALITY WITH MTE’S CLASS-LEADING SOLUTIONS

Our newest innovation, the Sinewave Nexus, is the most advanced power-quality solution on the market. While competitors misleadingly claim common mode reduction, Nexus is the only product that virtually eliminates common mode noise (less than 90 percent attenuation), in addition to mitigating differential mode noise and other harmonics.

Common mode noise, both voltage and current, can manifest itself in several different ways, the most damaging of which is motor-bearing fluting damage. Left unchecked, this can lead to premature motor wear and failure, resulting in expensive repairs and downtime. MTE is so confident in the Nexus, that it has backed the technology with the industry’s only five-year motor protection guarantee.

In addition, common mode noise can corrupt sensitive downhole sensor readings like temperature, speed, and pressure, resulting in hazardous operating conditions or failures. Using the SineWave Nexus also eliminates the need for costly VFD-rated cables that add significantly to operating costs.

Other popular motor protection solutions from MTE include our high-frequency SineWave Guardian product, which is an ideal solution for permanent magnet motors (PMM) protection and prevents against overheating.

MTE also has an extensive array of line side solutions, including harmonic filters and reactors to shield your system from harmful transients and provide compliance to local utility standards.

PROTECT YOUR PEOPLE, EQUIPMENT, AND PROFITS

Power quality is rarely the highest priority in an oil and gas operation, but can play an outsized role in ensuring uptime and smooth operation. Spending the time to properly diagnose and treat your power quality can lead to improved performance and ROIs.