Retrofitting of Harmonic Power Filters in Onshore Oil Drilling Rigs: Challenges and Solutions

The nonlinear loads in oil drilling rigs result in power quality problems such as harmonic distortion and low power factor. This paper addresses the harmonic problems in onshore rigs that are commissioned in early period of semiconductor technology and use dc drives. Different power filtering solutions are considered, and their performance is presented. The influence of practical constraints such as space limitations, reliability, cost, ease of maintenance, and operating conditions on the choice of filter is discussed. An optimal choice of filter meeting the objective and satisfying the practical constraints is presented.