Dynamic Gas Blending. Dynamic fuel savings.

Bala Thirunavukarasu

Project Manager

“By displacing diesel fuel with gaseous fuel, Cat® Dynamic Gas Blending system helps drilling customers save on operating costs. Compared to competing products, the Caterpillar solution is safer and easier to install, with strong dealer support worldwide.”

(713) 329-2225
Thirunavukarasu_Bala@cat.com

What does your role at Caterpillar involve?

I am a New Product Introduction Project Manager for our Land Drilling and Production segment in Houston, Texas.

What do you like best about your position?

The best part of my job is that it is very customer- and dealer-oriented. My goal is to bring out the best features of the product so the end customer can see its value. That’s our challenge and opportunity. We show the customer how a product works and why they should utilize or continue to utilize our products. At the end of the day, its all about reducing customer operating cost and how our solutions help customers build a better world.

What is the Cat Dynamic Gas Blending (DGB) process all about?

Today’s customers are laser-focused on reducing owning and operating costs, particularly in the drilling segment. In this line of work, fuel is the biggest expense, and DGB is a great way to save on fuel costs.

Caterpillar’s DGB technology allows our customers to run a diesel engine partly on gaseous fuel. Since gas is typically cheaper than diesel fuel, total operating costs decrease. DGB automatically adjusts to changes in incoming fuel quality to allow the engine to run on a variety of gaseous fuels from LNG to field gas.

In fact, we can substitute gaseous fuel by as much as 70%. This leads to significant fuel savings, which really adds up.

What makes DGB superior to other aftermarket solutions?

The Cat DGB system was developed with the key goal of maximizing diesel displacement for a wide range of gaseous fuel quality. When in DGB mode, diesel fuel injection timing is adjusted and optimized automatically to maintain durability and performance of the engine while maximizing diesel displacement.

In contrast, non-OEM dual fuel kits do not optimize injection timing and therefore operate at a higher cylinder pressure at a given diesel displacement, which negatively impacts the durability of engine components.

Safety has also been wired into the Cat DGB solution since its inception. These dual fuel engines have a premixed air fuel mixture in the intake manifold. In the event of a misfire, which could lead to fires in the intake manifold, flame arrestor technology is required to avoid engine damage.

Unlike other non-OEM and aftermarket dual fuel systems, flame arrestors are standard on Cat DGB systems. Cat DGB systems also include knock detection sensors as standard, which ensures that the engine is operating safely within knock limits in all conditions.

Once commissioned, a Cat DGB system automatically and continuously adjusts diesel displacement to adapt to changing gaseous fuel quality. On the other hand, non-OEM kits typically require continuous manual recalibration of their knock detection systems to match the fuel quality.

Is there a recent success story you’d like to discuss?

About six months ago, we began working with one of the largest oil & gas companies in India. They wanted a proven product with high gas substitution on wide range of load conditions, which is also capable of operating on a wide fuel range. So we did a pilot demo on one of their rigs and demonstrated up to 69% gas substitution and up to 50% saving on fuel cost. Their savings on fuel have encouraged them to use DGB technology on their other rigs as well.

What else is significant about this process that we have just touched on or haven’t discussed?

Cat dealer support is a huge point of difference. If there is an issue, the dealers are there to respond right away. The dealer is the one that works with the customer on a daily basis and makes sure that the product lives up to what the customer is looking for.

No other company offers the type of support that Caterpillar is able to provide with its dealer network. It’s absolutely unmatched.

With the comprehensive parts availability we’re able to provide, we can quickly ship parts all over the world and help customers get back to work sooner.