Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration Power Supplies

There are few things as complex and challenging as offshore oil and gas drilling. Imagine taking an already difficult and dangerous process and transporting it miles out into the open ocean. It is hard to navigate a modern ship in the same conditions, so taking what amounts to a floating city/factory, often taller than a skyscraper, and putting it in the middle of nowhere boarders on the impossible. Oh, and let’s not forget the billions of dollars involved in finding, let alone extracting, the oil and gas.

Yet, as humanity demands more fossil fuels everyday, companies have ventured farther and deeper into the oceans of the world. To get an idea how far out to sea and how much water is beneath some of these platforms, Shell’s Perdido floats 200 miles off the Texas coast in water as deep as five Empire State Buildings.

With all the difficulties and costs involved in placing these offshore rigs, there is another level of problems when it comes to powering these behemoths. Being tens if not hundreds of miles out to sea, it is not as if you can just hook up a few cables to the local power grid. These rigs contain a slew of generators, engines, and mechanical systems, all demanding a constant and reliable flow of electricity. One mistake, like a power arc, can lead to disaster far from help.

At Behlman, we understand the unique power challenges facing offshore oil and gas platforms. While every situation is unique, we do offer a number of products aimed at keeping electricity flowing smoothly and safely in even the most difficult offshore applications.  Behlman has modified a number of COTS AC supplies to handle the unique problems of offshore oil and gas drilling. The changes include adding such features as:

  • HV AC output
  • Master-Slave capability
  • RS-232 and RS-485 interface
  • Custom metering
  • Transit cases
  • NEMA enclosures

These custom features can be found on a number of different models including:

One of the most important things to understand is that each offshore oil and gas drilling platform is unique in its construction and capabilities. Because of this, almost every system aboard is customized to match the needs present. If you want to learn more about the offshore oil and gas drilling process and industry we suggest starting with one of the many informational website available including this one at howstuffworks.com.

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