Ultracapacitors used with generators to boost performance on drilling rigs and reduce fuel consumption

Fuel Fix:

At a plant east of downtown Houston, a North Carolina company is building hybrid power systems for oil rigs.

The systems are designed to hook up to normal generators used in the oil field, and charge while the generators are working, according to FlexGen Power Systems, which designed the systems and is building them with Amerimex Motors & Controls in Houston.

The systems load electricity into solid-state storage devices called ultracapacitors that are different from batteries, providing short-term storage of up to 1.2 megawatts of capacity, said Josh Prueher, CEO of FlexGen.

The systems can cut down fuel use about 15 percent, and are meant to be used with either natural gas or diesel-powered generators, said Jeff Juergens, director of FlexGen’s oil and gas business.

Oil field generators burn enormous quantities of fuel, especially when engines need bursts of power for such tasks as pulling miles of pipe from a well. The result is a sudden jump in the work rate and a lot of wasted generator fuel, Prueher said.

Engines equipped with the hybrid systems can take supplemental power stored in the ultracapacitors, allowing the generators and engines to work more efficiently, he said.

“The engine just basically gets to run smoothly,” Prueher said. “It doesn’t see those big spikes.”

As a result of the hybrid technology, FlexGen says oil drillers will require fewer generators and use less fuel.
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The system was originally developed for use by the military in combat bases, but has been adapted for use on oil rigs.  It will be interesting to see if such a system can be developed for vehicles.  They would probably have to work on reducing the size to make that work.