American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2021 - 72

SpecialReport: Fracturing Tech
New Engines, Pumps Aid Frac Fleets
By Colter Cookson
To help deliver the energy that powers
the U.S. economy while meeting expectations
from producers, investors and the
public, hydraulic fracturing companies
must continue finding ways to reduce
costs while minimizing their environmental
impacts.
" When I talk with pressure pumping
companies, their primary goal still is to
be as efficient as possible, " says Derek
Kamp, sales manager for drilling and
completions at Caterpillar. " However,
they also are studying their environmental
footprint and asking how we can help
them reduce it. "
Maximizing efficiency means preventing
unexpected downtime. According to
Bryan Wagner, director of engineering
for pressure pumping at SPM Oil & Gas,
which Caterpillar acquired in February,
that has become more challenging as the
demands placed on pumps have grown.
" Pumping has become almost continuous,
with pumps regularly clocking 18-22
hours a day, " he observes.
Preventive maintenance is essential to
improving equipment reliability and extending
run times, but it can be difficult
for pressure pumping companies to identify
the sweet spot between inadequate maintenance
and excessive spending, Kamp
says. " In today's tough commercial environment,
pressure pumpers need to run
extremely tight ships, which means many
people fill multiple roles, " he explains.
" For a frac crew boss who is responsible
for ensuring day-to-day operations run
safely and efficiently, it can be hard to
find time to optimize maintenance. "
To alleviate the burden on its customers,
Caterpillar now offers power ends and
flow iron as a service. " Under this model,
instead of selling equipment to the customer,
we provide the power end, fluid
end, manifold trailer and consumables in
exchange for a fee, " Kamp details. " The
contracted rate depends on how often the
customer is pumping, so our success depends
on their success. "
As part of the service, Caterpillar embeds
a fleet manager with each spread
who works alongside the crew to make
sure they maximize component life, he
adds. " The fleet manager understands
how different ways of operating affect
equipment and can point out best practices
that will increase its life, " he explains.
" The manager also looks at oil samples
and watches the data coming from engines,
transmissions and pumps to optimize the
maintenance program.
" For example, the manager may learn
that a specific fleet can increase oil replacement
intervals from 500 to 700
hours without compromising the equipment, "
Kamp illustrates. " If that fails the
component, it's on Caterpillar rather than
the customer. The model encourages us
to work together to extend equipment
life, but to do it in a safe manner. "
Technical Resources
Kamp says the fleet managers benefit
from access to seasoned engineers. " Even
before we acquired SPM, we had a pump
and fluid end division with a strong technical
team, " he says. " Bringing SPM into
the portfolio added engineers, sales teams,
technical experts and technicians who
had worked with frac equipment for 30
or 40 years.
" That experience is invaluable, " he
reflects. " When a fleet manager sees an
issue in the field, he can call one of the
senior technical experts at SPM to bounce
ideas off him and get feedback. Usually,
the senior technician has seen similar
issues before and can point the fleet manager
in the right direction, which lets us
resolve issues faster. "
Kamp says the fleet manager's focus
on optimizing equipment and access to
data and experts from around the world
can be extremely beneficial. " The first
company to adopt the service model reported
after four or five months that its
average fluid end life increased 400
hours, " he says.
" For most frac companies, the largest
maintenance expense comes from the
power and fluid end, " Kamp continues.
" As we learn more about how equipment
behaves in hydraulic fracturing applications,
we should be able to continue increasing
these components' life. "
Controlling Emissions
By running on a mix of diesel and natural gas, Caterpillar says its dynamic gas blending
engines shrink emissions and fuel costs while maintaining power, performance and reliability.
The engines' dual-fuel capability can reduce hydraulic fracturing spreads' diesel
consumption as much as 55%.
72 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
The oil and gas industry is taking seriously
the public's concerns about pollution
and global warming, Kamp assesses.
" When I talk with oil and gas producers,
the conversations often focus on improving
sustainability and governance, " he reports.
" They want to know how they can minimize
American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2021

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