New Technology to Eliminate Methane Emissions from Pneumatic Equipment at Well Sites

Event Information

This event provides oil and gas producers with the opportunity to learn more about SAFCell Inc and Calscan Solutions’ joint development of a near-zero emission well control system to eliminate methane emissions from pneumatic equipment. The near-zero emission well control system technology will be deployed in partnership with three large oil and gas producers at field locations in Alberta beginning in late 2017.

SAFCell has developed a low cost solid acid fuel cell (SAFC) that can be fueled by the same industrial-grade methanol that is already in tanks on site at the vast majority of oil and gas well sites, so no new fueling infrastructure is needed. SAFCs offer excellent electrical efficiencies and a 50 Watt SAFC will only use about 1 Litre/day of methanol at max power output, which is much less than the quantity of methanol injected by chemical injection pumps at most oil and gas     well sites. Field-grade methanol is widely available, easy to handle, cheap, and is also exempt from the Alberta carbon levy. SAFCs are lightweight and portable and can be used to back-up solar photovoltaic systems at remote off-grid oil and gas facilities to improve power reliability at a lower cost than other types of small scale power generators such as direct methanol fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cells and thermoelectric generators. SAFCell will initially be deploying 50 Watt methanol fuel cells before scaling up to 250 Watt or larger systems.

Calscan has developed several new technologies to enable electrification of well sites and the elimination of methane emissions from pneumatic equipment. As part of the near-zero emission well control system demonstration projects, Calscan will be testing its new electric emergency shutdown (ESD) valve technology and its new electric linear actuator at field sites in Alberta. Both technologies are brand new to the Canadian oil and gas industry.

The electric linear actuator features advanced electronics and a high efficiency brushless DC motor to achieve low active and standby energy consumption, which makes it ideally suited for remote off-grid power sites. The electric linear actuator can be easily installed as a retrofit onto standard control valves (e.g. ET and D-body valves) to electrify process control operations in either throttling or on-off control. The new electric ESD is an ideal solution for digital well control as the ESD is self-testing which reduces operator trips to site and lowers maintenance costs compared to standard pneumatic or hydraulic ESDs. Both technologies are engineered and certified for the harsh environmental conditions of the Canadian climate.

Who Should Attend

• Optimization and process development engineers
• Environmental reporting and regulatory compliance
• Process and production engineers, specialists and managers
• Senior executives leading sustainability initiatives in their organizations