Investigation of Premature ESP Failures and Oil Field Harmonic Analysis

• Published in: IEEE transactions on industry applications Vol. 53; no. 3; pp. 3175 - 3181
• Main Authors: Pragale, Ritchie, Shipp, David D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.05.2017; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Active harmonic filter; Deep water; Disruption; Distortion; Downtime; Drives; electric submersible pumps (ESPs); Failure; Fourier analysis; Harmonic analysis; harmonic mitigating transformer (HMT); IEEE Std 519-1992; Offshore drilling rigs; Oil fields; Oil insulation; Oils; phase shifting; point of common coupling (PCC); Power harmonic filters; variable-speed drives (VSDs); Voltage distortion; Voltage measurement
• ISSN: 0093-9994; 1939-9367
• DOI: 10.1109/TIA.2016.2608958

Electric submersible pumps (ESP) are used in a wide-range of applications from onshore to complex offshore, deep water, or subsea applications. Premature failures are undesired as they result in repair or replacement costs, but worse- downtime. This paper presents the challenges faced by the authors at an onshore oil field. The site experienced several ESP failures after drilling and operating 10% of the planned 300 wells. The authors were tasked to determine if power quality was a contributing factor in the premature failures and recommend a solution to prevent future occurrences. In addition to the failures, the oil field operator was concerned with the harmonic currents that would be generated once all 300 wells were online. The oil field is in an industrial area where large amounts of harmonic currents would increase voltage distortion to neighboring establishments and possibly lead to process disruption or equipment failure.