Purpose of the FLEX

Bold developed the FLEX (Flare Extinguisher) as a solution to decrease emissions on H2S treating locations during preventative maintenance or any upset scenario. The FLEX is a trailer mounted horizontal treater filled with a static bed of SGT-281. The FLEX can be included as part of the initial installation at the production facility or can easily be transferred in and out as needed.

Preventative maintenance is needed periodically on all equipment operated with non-regenerative H2S scavengers to remove byproducts and any contaminants from the vessel. Routine preventative maintenance also ensures maximum treating efficiency throughout operations. Our team has optimized the time between maintenance specifically for our equipment. The frequency between maintenance dates is based on the pounds of sulfur produced by the well and size of Bold’s Continuous Treating Systems (CTS) or other H2S scavenging equipment that is treating the gas.

Operations

Bold forecasts maintenance dates based on operating conditions, which helps our customers with budgeting for the year. At the time of maintenance, the FLEX is mobilized to location, if not already installed, and placed in series to Bold’s permanent H2S treating vessel, the CTS. The sour gas flows through both the CTS in series with the FLEX. Once the FLEX bed temperature is equalized with the CTS bed temperature, the CTS is bypassed and treating continues through the FLEX. The CTS is then depressurized, and the preventative maintenance process begins. Once completed, the process is reversed, the CTS is put back in service, and the FLEX is bypassed.

Impact of the FLEX on Customers

When a traditional preventative maintenance is needed, the customer must bypass the H2S treating vessel and send the sour gas to flare. Our FLEX solution allows customers to continue to sell gas throughout the maintenance process without sending sour gas to flare. This accomplishes four things:

1. Increased revenue from selling gas during maintenance
2. Decreased emissions
3. More predictable production forecast
4. Savings on permits needed to flare gas

Below is an example of a Bold treating application with the simulated emissions eliminated. The operating conditions and gas analysis used in the simulation are from one of Bold’s treating sites in the Permian Basin.

Table 1. A treating application for Bold

Bold’s 72” CTS can remove 25,000 pounds of sulfur from a gas stream before needing maintenance. In this application, the 72” CTS would need maintenance approximately every 2 months assuming no production upsets or other downtime from the well or pipeline.

A typical maintenance of a 72” CTS takes 12-48 hours. This entire maintenance period lasted approximately 24 hours from initial bypass into the FLEX to bringing the CTS back into full service. The simulated emissions assumed a flare combustion rate of 98%. Without the FLEX, the gas would be sent to flare which would result in the following emissions:

Table 2. Emissions Saved using the FLEX

The total emissions eliminated using the FLEX was 245,552 lbs. for this maintenance cycle.

Assuming 6 preventative maintenance events throughout the year, this results in 736 tons of emissions saved per year.

Other than decreasing emissions, the FLEX also increases revenue from selling gas during maintenance. At $4 / MMBtu and a gas flow rate of 1.5 MMSCFD, the FLEX resulted in $6,240 of revenue in additional gas sales for that 24 hour maintenance period.

Overview

There’s something about a customer calling you at 7pm seeking assistance on a current project they have going on and you’re able to deliver a solution by 10am the next morning.  It’s gratifying.  This is exactly what happened with our customer, Life Cycle Power.  We couldn’t be more proud of the entire BOLD team, including our customer, for seamlessly executing and solving a last minute issue.

We received the call one evening around 7pm from LCP stating that the liquids in their gas stream were decreasing their run time for their turbines, which create energy.  After a couple hours of discussion, we knew we could assist with conditioning their fuel gas for their natural gas driven turbine generators with our B-DRY Modular 300K BTU/hr Glycol Dehydration Unit.

When we asked when he needed this solution by, he said, “yesterday”.  We knew we had to jump!  By this time, it’s about 10pm and we were able to engage our Operations Team and pull together the details for them so they can execute in a timely manner.  Location, logistics, glycol, roustabouts, you name it…it got set up.  Phone calls, texts, pin drops…all exchanged immediately allowing for a smooth execution!  Not to mention 3rd party vendors that come through last minute, so kudos to them!!  #greatpartners

By about midnight, we received confirmation from our Operations Team that logistics have been set up for 8am and the modular glycol dehydration unit would be on location by 10am.  It was time to get some rest!

The deadlines were met and we were on location by 10am the next day.   Our Operations Team met the roustabout crews and assisted with set up.  We were able to set up our full scale telemetry with our customer that allows them to monitor their flow data 24/7/365.  This was a huge plus for them considering they weren’t able to do this before!  Now we can monitor dew point to ensure they’re getting continuous run time.  Within a couple hours of tying everything in, we were rolling!  At 480 psi we were able to bring the water content down to #2/MMcfd as well as remove highly corrosive VOC’s to protect the integrity of the turbine engine.

We also saved our customer on freight charges b/c our modular glycol dehydration unit is all on ONE skid!  That’s right, the gas train, regen side, and BTEX are all together.  So that meant, one truck and one crane.  Conventional dehydration skids are typically a few skids that require multiple truck loads, cranes, and excess rig up time to plumb each skid together.   Logistics has always been a headache for our customers, so we solved it for them.  #oneskid

Life Cycle Power was grateful we were able to pull this project together overnight, literally.  We are grateful for partners like LCP to entrust in BOLD to get the work done.

The anticipation of a new project with a new Customer left us (and our Customer) nothing less than anxious.  Out in God’s Country, the Permian Basin, is where the setting of the project is.  Who attended the party?  BOLD HSE, Sales, Operations, Engineering, I&E, and even upper management.  That’s right…even our CEO had to be a part of this new and exciting adventure we are experiencing.  Afterall, he couldn’t let us have all the fun!

A little background on this customer…They needed a solution to reduce chemical costs while increasing safety, and efficiencies.  The previous chemical vender wasn’t economical on the volume that they needed to treat, and contract specifications were becoming more stringent.  In addition, our design was more robust with more options for disposal versus their current infrastructure.  The bonus factor was that we were able to provide a turnkey solution which was a breath of fresh air for our Customer.  It was almost like winning the lottery during a time in our industry when our Customers’ are all understaffed and hopeful that Vendor/Partners can step up their game.

Who, in today’s market isn’t interested in saving money??  ANY TAKERS?.  From the cost/lb of sulfur removed, to the modularity, to the telemetry, operational execution, we crushed the cost savings!!

Take a look at this timeline.  Notice how much is done in 6 hours??  This is due to the modular design of the unit, our dedicated Service Team, and our Customer that was ready for us to move in and get to work.  #efficient

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The Timeline

8:00 AM – BOLD arrived on location
8:15 AM – JSA complete
8:20 AM – Crane mobilize
8:30 AM – Truck on location
9:15 AM – Main skid set
9:30 AM – Spent solution scrubber offloaded
9:40 AM – Inlet/outlet flanges bolted up
9:50 AM – Spent solution scrubber set in place
9:50 AM – PSVs bolted up
10:00 AM – Skids bolted together
10:00 AM – Inlet/outlet piping complete
10:20 AM – Tower stood
10:45 AM – Chemical make-up tank and stand set
11:10 AM – Tubing complete
11:30 AM – CTS mechanically complete
12:15 PM – Chemical make-up tank filled with 800 gallons
1:45 PM – I&E complete
2:00 PM – Contactor filled with 4200 gallons and BOLD off location

Customer is ready to open up and start treating!!

This is the first of many installs/projects we’ll be blogging about!  Each will present a new challenge and we welcome it.

Cost Savings.  This will be a topic of conversation for quite some time.  That’s ok though, because BOLD has a solution.

Let’s talk coolers.  Gas coolers and liquid coolers…the industry standard has been a conventional skid mounted gas or liquid cooling unit that is powered by an engine driven motor that is attached to it.  We thought, “How can we reduce our customer’s costs with this type of product?”

Logistics, telemetry, maintenance fleet, safety…these were all important measures we looked at.

A). Conventional Cooling Units will cost thousands of dollars to mobilize.  You need either a winch truck or a large double drop trailer with a crane to load and offload, yet still have to pay for a permit load.  Those are substantial costs our Customers had to worry about.  What happens if a cooler is set and the well ends up needing an intervention?  Guess what, that truck and crane have to come back out, wait, and reset.  That’s right…sky rocketing costs incur, including down time that nobody can afford right now.  Then what happens if the cooler needs to be moved to a new well?  Same costs.  See the pattern?

BOLD SOLUTION? Our B-Cool Total Flow Mobile Coolers are on trailers that can be hauled with a 3/4 ton (F-250).  The trailer connection is a standard 2 5/16 gooseneck ball.  This simplified logistics for our Customer and eliminated thousands of dollars they would typically incur.

B). Conventional Cooling Units have their own engine driven motor attached to each unit.  This means multiple PM’s, and emissions from each unit. On a 9 well pad with 9 BOLD Coolers we will have one natural gas generator with 1 PM.  The conventional approach is 9 skid or block mounted coolers with 9 engines that will all need PMs and the emission footprint is a note-worthy topic for most Operators.

BOLD SOLUTION?  We have mobile natural gas powered electric generators that we can deploy and have the capability to power up to 9 mobile coolers.  That’s 1 PM and substantial emissions reduction (i.e 9 conventional coolers will have 9 sources of emissions vs 9 BOLD total flow coolers with 1 mobile natural gas generator; having 1 source of emissions)

C). Conventional Cooling Units may not all have redress documentation and updated certifications.  Nor will they all be equipped with the robust technology to monitor flow data 24/7/365.

BOLD SOLUTION?   SAFETY is key.  With our B-Cool Fleet being new and still growing, the tube quality and piping infrastructure is superior.  In addition, we provide all redress documentation and certifications on each unit before they deploy.  Also, each unit has full scale telemetry where you can monitor, inlet/outlet pressure and temperature, ambient temperature, vibration, and VFD speed.   This can eliminate the need/liability for manpower on location to check cooler status.

There are so many “cool” features to this product and the fact that we have reduced our Customer’s project expenses on a rental asset, service costs, and emissions is a big win for both parties!

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