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University research aims to reduce methane emissions in oil & gas applications

Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, students at Colorado State University (CSU) are actively involved in efforts to reduce methane emissions in the oil & gas industry. CSU engineering students conduct research in an on-campus facility called the Engines and Energy Conversion Lab (EECL), and also participate in field trials.

Led by Daniel Olsen, a mechanical engineering professor, 15 CSU graduate and undergraduate students work in a 100,000-sq. ft. building that combines a newer 70,0000 sq. ft. section with a retired 1930s-era steam power plant. The facility mimics an open-concept compressor station, with 10 natural gas- and diesel-fueled industrial engines that operate in test cells.

“The hands-on opportunities our students get at the EECL are unsurpassed,” Olsen said during an appearance on The Energy Pipeline, a Caterpillar Oil & Gas podcast. “The opportunity that we have to do these projects with Caterpillar and other manufacturers involves a lot of hardware and a lot of testing—everything from designing brackets and assembling brackets on the engine, to doing something simple, like holding a wire that you're running to a sensor, to actually helping run the engine and then analyzing the data.”

The REMEDY (Reducing Emissions of Methane Every Day of the Year) program from the DOE is intended to analyze and mitigate methane slip from engines (exhaust methane), and also crankcase gas emissions. It also addresses methane emissions from coal mines.

Partnering with Caterpillar

The DOE grant is funded through the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, which is focused on commercialization and implementation in the marketplace. The EECL works in many areas of energy R&D, with a specific focus toward industry partnerships and commercialization of technology.

“On most of our projects we are collaborating with an industry partner such as Caterpillar,” Olsen said. “Caterpillar has a gated process for taking a product from technology readiness level to commercialization. In this case, we're doing the research in the lab, and we had a really successful test (in 2023) on a particular project.”

The project at the CSU lab is a closed crankcase gas recirculation system. Normally the crankcase gas in an oil & gas industrial engine is vented into the atmosphere, and it contains a significant amount of methane.

Because the engines need to run 24/ 7, high reliability is critical. “If it's filtered and processed properly, it can be recirculated into the intake,” Olsen said. “So, that's the technology we're focusing on. To get the product into the marketplace, we need to do a field demonstration, so we're going to demonstrate the product in the field. We're going to do a one-year durability test.”

A midstream industry partner has agreed to host the field test. CSU students will take safety training, so they can participate onsite.

“They'll be involved in the design of the hardware that we'll set up to monitor the engine and also the hardware that we put on the engine,” Olsen said. “And there'll be trips to the site where we do an extended test, an all- day emissions test, and they'll be involved with that as well.”

The CSU mechanical engineering students have plenty of opportunities to interact with industry partners through regular update calls, and also through in-person consultations.

As manager of Natural Gas and Alternative Fuels Research for Caterpillar, David Montgomery has been an adjunct member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at CSU since August 2018. His research involvement with the university started in 2006. 

“David frequently comes to visit the lab, so they get interaction with him and other Caterpillar staff,” Olsen said. “Caterpillar also offers co-ops and internships. David teaches a graduate class here at CSU, and Caterpillar funds senior design projects at the old powerhouse, which is designated as a Cat lab. So, we have lots of opportunities for the students to engage with Caterpillar, in particular.”

Hands-on training

Beyond what they’ve learned through their coursework, by working in the lab, students are faced with real-world challenges.

“Maybe it’s just something simple, like ‘how do I run water from this source to something on the engine that I want to cool?’” Olsen says. “And the options for what tubing and connectors and fitting to use—that’s a learning experience which is typically not taught in class. So, they get hands-on design and fabrication experience. A lot of learning takes place when you actually have them involved in a hands-on project.”

The CSU students also learn how to present a synopsis of their findings in meetings, which is also beneficial, Olsen says.

With an abundance of natural gas in the U.S. that is utilized for power generation, there's an opportunity to reduce emissions at the same time, Olsen says.

Colorado State is one of 10 doctoral universities worldwide recognized for comprehensive sustainability efforts, including environmental, social and economic dimensions. CSU is the first university in the world to earn this rating four times.

“What I find is that students here definitely have a sustainability focus, but they also want to work on things that have an impact now,” Olsen said. “So, if you take the closed crankcase recirculation project, that’s going to have an impact over the next couple of years, so it's very near-term.

“And I think a lot of our projects are like that, where you're seeing results in the near term, and that gets them excited.”

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