Hussain successfully defended his dissertation titled “Linear Permanent Magnet Machines for Oil Pumping Systems” on Jan 18th, 2017. He worked on the replacement of the sucker rod pumping system with a permanent magnet linear motor which drives the reciprocating pump directly. In this system, the motor drive is placed on the surface and connected through a long cable to the downhole linear motor which drives the reciprocating pump. This system is intended to extend the use of sucker rod pumping systems to off-shore applications and deviated wells.
He discussed the new system challenges such as the high temperature downhole and the long transmission cable and proposed a DC system where the inverter is integrated with the motor downhole while the rectifier remains on the surface. Moreover, he developed a sensorless algorithm to drive the PM motor without downhole position or current sensors.
Finally, he built a pump monitoring system to detect the common pump faults.

EMPE lab congratulates Dr. Hussain for his successful defense and wishes him best of luck with his professional career.