Electrical issues in the oil and gas industry can crop up in a variety of ways. One major concern for many companies is that old technology combined with inefficient motors that have no speed control often results in a lot of wasted energy leading to high energy costs. Since these operations are usually at the end of the electrical line, they commonly experience issues with “dirty power”: voltage variations, frequency variations, and insufficient voltage. These drops or surges in power can result in sine wave distortions or power disruptions that drive up costs and reduce system capacity.
At Bay Power, we find ways to correct these issues with custom panel solutions and motors that harness energy and stabilize voltage for a more efficient operation. Here are just a few of the ways we have solved issues with oil and gas customers like you.
Regenerative Drive Harnesses Over-Voltage to Save Money and Energy
One of our customers needed to solve an issue with poor efficiency, lack of speed control, and startup issues caused by over-voltage from the pump jacks. The old system had single-phase power with a phase converter with an across the line starter that resulted in massive amounts of wasted energy. Their initial idea was to switch to a variable frequency drive (VFD) or another starting mechanism to provide some speed control on startup. But because of the over-voltage generated by the pump jack, a regular VFD wouldn’t work.
Bay Power’s Jesse Mitchell installed a regenerative drive, which powers the motor while also harnessing the excess energy that is produced during the pump’s free-fall phase. The new drive offers speed control and smooth starts, while also returning energy to the electrical line, which results in huge energy savings. The customer was so pleased after the first installation that they immediately began working with our team on a plan to replace all of the original starting mechanisms in their pump jack operation with the new regenerative drive packages.
Clean Up “Dirty Power” With Voltage Rectification
Because oil and gas operations are usually situated at the end of the line, they can run into issues with too much or too little voltage. Bay Power helps these customers rectify the voltage with either an active front end or a line reactor. While there may be minimal energy depletion due to heat loss or other ambient losses, the technology will smooth out the voltage up or down to where it should be before it causes power outages or costly disruptions.
Many of our customers also need custom panels that can operate in a mobile context or with long motor leads. In these situations, there are often sine wave distortions that require a sine wave filter or output filter that will modulate the wave signal. We work with each customer individually to develop panel or drive solutions that promote efficiency and cost savings over the long-term.
We Get Your Project Done the Right Way
In an industry where downtime is costly and machines tend to be extremely inefficient, the urgent need to fix a problem often makes it hard to see the big picture. At Bay Power, however, we do more than sell quick fixes. We help you design a solution that gets the job done right and runs your equipment as efficiently as possible. Our customers routinely save money and time when they work with us because we’re not just trying to sell them a part; instead we help them look at problems from every angle and create a custom solution for their situation. And we do it all much faster than anyone else.
Ready to talk with one of our industry experts? Give us a call today or download our linecard to see what we offer!
