Enabling well compliance with EPA emissions mandates

Traditionally, spring diaphragm actuators powered by the produced gas have been used, but recent US Government Environmental Protection Agency  (EPA) mandates now limit this process to lower fugitive emissions caused by bleed gas. One shale gas company was, therefore, looking for an affordable and efficient low power solution that could be run by solar panels to replace existing actuation equipment and control a variety of fluids at line pressures up to 413 bar. 

Most shale wells and flow lines are unmanned and located in remote areas that are difficult and expensive to monitor. Skilled technicians must check data and perform manual shutdowns, increasing costs for the time to travel to site, identifying the problem and stopping the flow, which is not cost-effective or practical. Actuators provide an ideal solution to automate valves at the remote wells.

The key objective was to provide an efficient and reliable process control actuator which could be retrofitted on installed valves to reduce costs and downtime. Rotork’s local agent, Setpoint Integrated Solutions, was able to engineer an interface to enable CML-250 actuators to be easily fitted to installed valves and improve the level of control, without venting gas and with the low power demand required for solar powered operation.

Designed for quarter-turn, multi-turn and linear valve operation, the actuators perform numerous process control valve, choke valve, metering pump and damper applications demanding precise position control and continuous modulation. Single-phase or DC electrical power is all that is required for simplified installation and control valve actuation. Explosion-proof certification to international standards is available for hazardous area applications.