Fueling fracturing with natural gas: Redefining wellsite power for oilfield services

摘要

On Aug.24,2017,Hurricane Harvey was barreling toward the middle of the Texas Gulf Coast shoreline,packing winds up to 145 mph and reports of anticipated rainfall in excess of 36 in.As the storm loomed closer to making landfall,the team at Evolution Well Services was busy evaluating the best plan of action-Harvey's projected path was headed directly for one of their newly deployed fleets of electric power generation and fracturing equipment in the Eagle Ford shale.The personnel decision was an easy one;people on location quickly battened down the hatches and promptly evacuated to safety for an undetermined amount of time,not knowing what the severity,length or aftermath of the storm would be.The newly minted equipment,however,still gleaming with its fresh coat of silver-fleck paint,was not going to be so lucky.The decision was made-the fleet was going to ride out the storm where it stood.Two days after Harvey had passed,the crew was re-deployed to the wellsite.What they found was incredible;no notable damage to any of the equipment.The team spent the day completing safety checks,ensuring that all systems were”go”for resuming fracturing operations later that night.The natural gas line was opened,feeding the custom turbine generator,and momentarily after that,electricity was flowing out to the pump trailers,blender,and ancillary equipment on location.Pumping operations resumed,and business as usual commenced,Fig 1.