Wood Group ESP, part of international energy services company John Wood Group PLC (Wood Group), has developed a new Vector® drive, designed specifically for oilfield pumping applications. Wood Group ESP is only one of two oil field companies to manufacture its own drive.

The Vector VII drive features a number of unconventional features not available on most drives. Leading the list is an easy-to-use operator control panel that includes a large, high-resolution, full-color graphics display that is easy to read in bright light, an industry first for the oil field. Its software integrates operating information, downhole well parameters, and graphical data into a common display, eliminating the time it takes to scroll through several screens to retrieve data. A digital circular ammeter is displayed on the operator panel, therefore the use of a mechanical circular ammeter for chart recording is no longer needed. Twenty critical operating parameters are periodically sampled and stored in memory, and can be shown graphically on the operator panel or downloaded and saved for future analysis. Remote user interface, and monitoring and control functions are also supported. In addition, the Vector VII is provided in a Nema 3R-rated outdoor enclosure, making it a fit for indoor and outdoor use. All electronic components are located inside a sealed (Nema 4) section of the drive enclosure with no exchange of outside cooling air. Vector VII is suitable for arctic, desert and rainforest climates, operating in temperatures ranging from -40°C to +50°C (-40°F to +122°F).

“The Vector drive builds on Wood Group ESP's long history of providing variable speed drive products for both electric submersible pumps (ESP) and surface pumping systems (SPS), and is the latest in the Vector family of variable speed drives (VSDs) from Wood Group ESP,” said Gary Ford, president of Wood Group ESP. “Its many outstanding features and advanced technology combine to make it a competitive alternative for oil field pumping applications.”

The Vector VII is available with Wood Group ESP's exclusive variable sinewave generator VSG Technology®. With VSG Technology both the VSD output voltage waveform and the output current waveform are near-perfect sine waves. This is extremely important in ESP applications, where pulse width modulation (PWM) type drives can damage downhole motors because of voltage spikes that develop due to reflected waves on very long motor cables. Vector VII drives with VSG Technology will not damage downhole motors at motor cable lengths to 15,000 feet and beyond.

Tags: Wood Group