Cyclo Drives In Oil & Gas Extraction, Drilling & Processing For Power Generation
Oil and gas extraction occurs in harsh environments that are not suited to delicate, high maintenance machinery. The need to operate 24-7 with minimal maintenance at maximum operational efficiency takes a heavy toll on gearboxes, pumps and drives that are not extremely rugged and contamination resistant. Cyclo drives offer a versatile, efficient, maintenance friendly solution to these problems across a wide range of oil and gas industry applications.
What are the challenges of oil & gas extraction, drilling and processing?
Oil and gas fields present obvious challenges when they are in remote locations and extreme environments, but there are also problems that arise from the extraction and processing methods used in the oil and gas industries. As an example, the sucker-rod lift used to pump oil (pictured above) is a familiar feature of oil fields across the globe.
Sucker-rod lifts are used to pump oil in the Siberian arctic as well as Arabian deserts, and are of course a significant feature of North American oil production. The operating characteristics of this type of beam-pump demand rugged, shock-resistant drives that are capable of operating 24-7 in extremes of heat or cold without failure.
A challenge for conventional gearboxes is that there is a significant shock load to the system caused by the change of direction of the beam and counterweight during every pumping cycle. To compensate for this, larger pump motors are often used in sucker-rod lift oil extraction than are necessary, but this creates additional problems by causing overpumping of the well, with potentially destructive ‘fluid pound’ on the downstroke.
Cyclo drives provide a simple solution for overpumping problems
A simple solution to the issue of overpumping is to drive the pump with a cyclo speed reducer instead of oversizing the pump. The high shock resistance of cyclo gearboxes makes them ideal for this application, where they can be sized correctly, potentially also creating cost savings compared to larger conventional gearboxes.
An added bonus of using high torque cyclo drives in oil and gas industry extraction is that they are highly compatible with the trend for variable speed primary drive motors. This is because the cyclo gearbox is extremely tolerant to changes in operational speed, being able to deliver increased power output without overheating.
How are cyclo drives used in oil & gas processing?
Cyclo speed reducers and cyclo drives can be used as a highly reliable, compact alternative to conventional gearboxes and drives in almost any application. There are, however, some very challenging cases where cyclo drives are outstanding. One of these is mixing and agitating high density petroleum distillates and residues from the fractional distillation process.
Bitumen mixing is an extremely important example that puts very high operational loads on mixing machinery. To produce high quality bitumen for road surfacing and construction industry uses, the bitumen has to be thoroughly and evenly mixed. Due to the very high viscosity of bitumen, this is an ideal task for cyclo gearboxes, which handle the heavy torque loads with ease.
Cyclo gearboxes & speed reducers are the dependable choice for offshore oil & gas extraction
Unlike the majority of primary raw material extraction processes, the oil & gas industries have a long history of offshore drilling and extraction. Oil rigs are deployed to locations that may be far from land and only rapidly accessible by helicopter, or not accessible at all in bad weather.
When you add the salt water corrosion of the marine environment to high costs of resupply, the narrow margins of the oil & gas extraction industries demand rugged, dependable machinery that will keep working 24-7 even under the harshest conditions. Easily sealed and sharing wear loads evenly across internal parts, cyclo gearboxes and cyclo speed reducers are the perfect choice for offshore oil & gas installations.
What makes cyclo gearboxes especially suitable for offshore oil & gas installations?
- Easily sealed against harsh environments
- Even wear to internal components for easy maintenance
- Can be easily swapped between different tasks to maintain production
- Rugged, durable, and dependable
- Highly resistant to shock loadings
- Almost impossible to thermally overload
When you also factor in the compact size and high torque capabilities, the cyclo drive offers a highly versatile option to replace conventional gearboxes and speed reducers, with the added benefit of not requiring as many different sizes or models to satisfy a wide range of applications.
Cyclo drives & gearboxes are the logical choice for oil & gas extraction, drilling & processing
These examples illustrate why cyclo drives and gearboxes are the logical choice for reliable, dependable service where it matters in the oil and gas industries. Not all cyclo drives are made equally, however. Choosing Transcyko cyclo drives gives you added peace of mind with our long history of cyclo research and development and excellent service and maintenance solutions for both Trancyko and Sumitomo products.
Our Cyclo 600 series is a globally recognized workhorse that quietly supports critical industry operations with minimal fuss and easy maintenance, alongside our many cyclo variants designed for robotic, servo and other applications. Contact us to discover how our range of cyclo gearboxes and speed reducers can increase efficiency and reduce costs and downtime in your industry.