Success Story
Methane Mitigation
The Climate Challenge
Natural gas operators today face a dual challenge: delivering affordable energy while reducing methane emissions. Gas-operated pneumatic devices account for about a third of the emissions of the natural gas industry. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the US Environmental Protection Agency has introduced a Waste Emissions Charge, applicable to facilities that exceed specific methane emissions thresholds.
Additionally, operators are expected to comply with standards that require transitioning to zero-methane emissions from pneumatic devices. To continue providing affordable energy while minimizing environmental impact, producers must have access to efficient, reliable, and cost-effective solutions. In accordance with these directives, EQT, the largest natural gas producer in the US, initiated a project to replace 9,000 pneumatic devices across its asset bases.
The Status Quo
Pneumatic devices powered by pressurized natural gas are widely used in the natural gas industry for process control and chemical injection. Gas powered pneumatic devices vent spent gas directly into the air, threatening the clean fuel advantages of natural gas. There are more than one million natural gas-driven pneumatic devices deployed in the US oil and natural gas sector, accounting for approximately 33% of the industry’s methane emissions.
The Opportunity
EQT evaluated three different options for the pneumatics replacement initiative: compressed air, nitrogen, and electric driven actuation, with a focus on evaluating reliability, maintenance, power demands, cost, and meeting compliance. Qnergy’s PowerGen5650, powered by the revolutionary Free Piston Stirling Engine, delivers grid-quality reliability with minimal maintenance and zero methane slip. The Compressed Air Pneumatics (CAP) system, which includes two redundant air compressors, replaces natural gas (methane) in pneumatic devices with clean, dry air. Together, the PowerGen powers the CAP, creating a reliable package that has become the industry standard for its simplicity and lower total cost of ownership.
The Solution
The compressed air solution prevailed as the selected replacement for natural gas-driven pneumatic devices in this initiative. As a result, EQT and Qnergy deployed hundreds of PowerGen and CAP systems throughout their Marcellus Shale asset base in the Northeast US. Compressed air, CAP, was found to be an ideal fit for locations with multiple pneumatic devices. Select locations that installed electric actuators also installed the PowerGen as a remote power source. The EQT replacement project is a key initiative for their net zero goals with a reduction in methane emissions intensity by 65%.
