Greenpath Energy Ltd.
2015
Executive Summary
The international, federal and provincial political landscape has evolved to increase emphasis on climate change and methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. Emissions from natural gas-driven pumps are identified as a significant source of methane emissions from the sector (Environment Canada, 2014; and CAPP, 2008). As a result, the industry is actively pursuing alternatives to gas-driven chemical injection pumps as a means to reduce venting emissions. Estimates of the number of gas-driven chemical pumps in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin are highly variable, but a quantity in excess of 100,000 is possible based on the Alberta Upstream Oil and Gas Assets Inventory Study (2013) and inferences from the Province of British Columbia’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Regulation.
Alternatives to natural gas-driven pumps can be grouped into three categories: powered (solar, fuel cell, grid tied), mechanical (instrument air, methanol sphere) and vent capture systems that combust or conserve the exhaust from pneumatic pumps (vent gas for low pressure fuel, vapour recovery units). Based on research undertaken by GreenPath Energy Ltd., there are multiple alternative technologies with no one optimal alternative to a gas-driven pump for all situations. Alternatives to a gas-driven pump may not be economically feasible but could be technically feasible.
The Montney and Duvernay formations are expected to lead production growth in Canada over the medium term and are high-rate wells, with pressure and liquid injection requirements that may dramatically increase the cost of pneumatic alternatives due to increased power requirements. As GreenPath Energy was unable to obtain pressure information from more than one producer, a more detailed understanding of pressure and rate effects on pump alternatives will be useful for future study.
Chemical injection pumps running on natural gas are mostly found in remote locations. The most common alternative to a gas-driven pump is a solar chemical pump (SCP) that relies on solar panels, a battery back-up, and an electrically-driven pump.
Based on a combination of on-site inspections as well as operator interviews, solar chemical injection pumps are in operation from Dawson Creek, BC to Fort Nelson, BC as well as the Rainbow Lake area in Northern Alberta. Early solar chemical injection pumps – plagued by issues adapting to Canadian operating conditions – continue to negatively bias operator opinions on the effectiveness of solar chemical installations. Solar chemical injection systems were found to be reasonably common in the low light, cold weather and high-pressure conditions found at producing facilities in the Montney formation, an area where conventional logic suggests solar chemical injection systems should not perform well. The key variable in determining whether or not these systems are installed tends to be operator preference and economic considerations as opposed to any technical limitation. This report will detail the economic and technical strengths and weaknesses associated with alternative technologies.
Currently, SCPs are the most technically-viable alternative to gas-driven chemical injection pumps, and appear to be more broadly accepted than other powered and mechanical variations. Several other technologies (both old and new) address emissions from gas-driven chemical injection pumps in remote power situations.
Most non-solar technology alternatives are not sufficient for widespread deployment. Like most other remote technologies, solar chemical pumps are not economically favourable unless natural gas prices increase significantly over current forecasts, or setting a carbon price on vented methane.
While other emerging technologies such as hybrid fuel cell systems show promise, they do not appear to be deployed in significant numbers or for a sufficient length of time to comment on their long term viability. Using vented natural gas from chemical pumps for low-pressure fuel demands (e.g. catalytic heaters) is a promising low-cost option which deserves further field testing to resolve back pressure, and gas supply and demand challenges (vent gas capture system). Fuel cells appear to be a promising technology alternative, with cost and reliability as major concerns at this time. The best possible alternative from a greenhouse gas and reliability perspective is grid-tied electricity from a renewable source, combined with an electric motor; however, the remote nature of some Canadian oil and gas operations makes this solution challenging to deploy.
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