Brazil’s WEG motor control packages has deployed low maintenance motors to assist Houston based engineering company EN-FAB, Inc. to meet production targets in a major steam injection recovery project in Oman.
The project is being undertaken for Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) to reverse Oman’s declining oil production.
With the depletion of global oil resources now a common problem, injection technology is increasing in use in the Middle East, North America, China, Russia and South America.
“WEG is the only motor and drive equipment that we would trust in the harsh Omani environment,” said Chandra S. Tripathy, president of EN-FAB. “WEG is one of our major vendors because we have had a good working history with them on other steam generation projects throughout the world, their commitment to us is evident throughout all aspects of their equipment production – from engineering design, to on-time deliveries, to post-sale support of their installed products.”
Steam injection technology; a process in which heavy viscous oil is thermally stimulated to improve recovery, is the ideal technology for use in Oman. Ideal, because Oman’s more readily accessible reserves are somewhat depleted, limiting future production to the heavy oil formations in the hot, arid regions of the country’s interior.
To date, WEG has delivered 34 motor control systems to EN-FAB to control multiple motors on the oilfield. This equipment helps run the main and booster pumps that supply water to the steam generators, as well as the large fans for combustion air to the burner assembly.
“It’s the ruggedness and the ability to operate at differing voltages and frequencies that has ensured the specification of WEG products for this project.” said Michael Smith, WEG’s Automation Sales Engineer. “The location of the field presents unrelenting challenges for motors and drives, and the equipment they power.”
“In Oman, ambient desert temperatures can regularly exceed 50C in the hot season; and sand storms are prevalent,” said Smith; “so it’s critical to have “rugged, low-maintenance motors, variable frequency drives, and control packages capable of reliable and repeatable performance.
“We are in this project for the long term,” said Smith. “At the beginning of 2008, the oil field had reached a target of 32,000 barrels of oil, with only six steam generators on line. However, because there is a direct correlation between the amount of steam injected into the formation and the amount of oil recovered, production should increase proportionally as EN-FAB brings additional steam generators on line.”
