American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2021 - 58

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SpecialReport: Frac Tech

By powering hydraulic fracturing pumps with engines that run on a mix of natural gas
and diesel, ProPetro says it is helping operators reduce emissions and achieve their environment, sustainability and governance objectives.

turing service provider. " Today, we are
seeing operators' responsiveness in the
growing interest in environment, sustainability and governance, " he notes.
" Service providers are following suit to
help operators achieve their ESG goals
and remain competitive. "
For hydraulic fracturing firms, ESG
efforts often relate to reducing emissions,
says Phillip A. Gobe, ProPetro's chief
executive officer and chairman. " At
ProPetro, we have purchased a fleet with
dynamic gas blending engines that comply with EPA's Tier IV emissions standard, and we plan to convert 17 of our
Tier II engines to DGB when we overhaul
them, " he says, noting that these engines
reduce emissions by substituting natural
gas for diesel.
" We also have spent more than $160
million developing electric frac fleet technology that we hope to deploy commercially by year's end, " Gobe says.
Because electricity can be generated
by turbines that run entirely on natural
gas, electric fleets can achieve a cleaner
emissions profile than even dual fuel
engines, observes Adam Muñoz,
ProPetro's chief operating officer. However, he says the company began looking
at electric fleets primarily because they
have the potential to improve safety
and efficiency.
" Electric fleets support improvements
in equipment design, " Muñoz explains.
" For example, electrically-driven pumps
can pack more horsepower into each unit,
which will reduce the number of pumps
and people we need to bring on site. "
58 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Gobe adds that electric fleets offer
more precise, automated pump control.
" Electric spreads have enough advantages that the industry is moving toward
them, " he assesses. " However, that transition will be gradual because each fleet
costs about 50% more than a dual fuel
one, which also greatly reduces emissions.
It will be hard for many companies to
justify electric fleets' upfront costs until
pricing improves. "
Safer Acid
Muñoz mentions that ProPetro has
partnered with Fluid Energy Group and

Solnexus Chemical LLC to become one
of the largest West Texas distributors of
a safer and more sustainable alternative
to hydrochloric acid. " This modified acid
only becomes truly corrosive when it is
interacting with carbonates down hole,
so it is safer to handle for people and less
likely to damage equipment, " he says.
The acid also can reduce nonproductive
time. " Because it will not damage wireline
cables, we can send it down hole while
the wireline unit is setting plugs rather
than waiting for that to finish and sending
the acid down separately, " Muñoz explains.
" This generally saves 20-30 minutes of
downtime as well as a significant amount
of water between stages. "
Sledge adds that the acid can be concentrated and diluted on site to cut truck
deliveries significantly. By taking advantage of its scale in the Permian Basin
to secure volume discounts, he says
ProPetro can offer the safer and more
efficient acid at a cost competitive with
hydrochloric acid.
Pad-Wide Communication
To unlock greater efficiency, operators
and completion companies need more
precise and accurate data about what
goes on during completions, argues Brett
Chell, president and CEO of Cold Bore
Technology Inc.
" On many frac sites, each service
company records what it is doing manually,
which can introduce errors, " Chell says.
" For example, the pressure pumping com-

Cold Bore Technology helps operators and service companies track hydraulic fracturing
activity by networking frac sites and gathering data from the frac tree and on-site
service companies to create a shared timeline. According to the company, this timeline
greatly simplifies communication and analysis, allowing optimizations that significantly
improve efficiency.

American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2021

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