Case Study: Quicksilver Resources

Published on Aug 18, 2009

Quicksilver Resources is a natural gas and crude oil producer engaged in the development and acquisition of long-lived producing natural gas and crude oil properties. The company is widely recognized as a leader in the development and production of unconventional natural gas reserves, including coal bed methane, shale gas, and tight sand gas.

Problem
Reduce operating costs by maximizing fuel usage
Quicksilver is very proactive; always looking for savings on fuel use and cost
The company has traditionally been wiling to test new equipment if it can deliver improved performance.

“I used Murphy Power Ignition (MPI) products at my previous company, and I wanted to try a couple at Quicksilver. I planned to datalog the fuel usage before and after the installation to see what kind of savings we could get. If there’s an opportunity to save money, we’ll do it.”

Implementation
The MPI-16 system includes coils, wires, sensors and mag pickups.
Purchased 12 MPI-16 ignition controllers.
Controllers were installed on Caterpillar 399 and Waukesha 7042 engines to test under various conditions.
Average fuel usage for each install was monitored the same engine with and without the MPI ignition controller.
Quicksilver also purchased and installed more than 45 Compliance Controls air-fuel ratio controllers – mostly rich-burn models – to maximize the performance of the catalytic converter for emissions control.

“Rather than stick with an old magneto-based ignition system, we opted to put Murphy Power Ignition on it. I tested MPI on several different engines, loaded differently, to see the difference on fuel savings.”

Results
Murphy’s ignition controllers saved an average 7-10 MCF (thousand cubic feet) of fuel per day.
With an average fuel price of $6 per MCF, that saves Quicksilver $42 per unit each day.
At that rate, Quicksilver is expected to save $15,330 per unit each year.
Quicksilver’s cost savings paid for each units within the first 5-1/2 months of installation.
The integration between the Murphy ignition controls, Compliance Controls’ AFR controllers and the catalytic converter delivers consistently smooth operation and higher engine performance.

“We save an overall average of 7 MCF every day. At $6 per MCF, it adds up pretty quickly. The MPI system pays for itself in a few months, and we save thousands of dollars on each unit every year. MPI also works well with our Compliance Controls AFR controllers to get cleaner emissions.”

Contacts

Quicksilver
Randy Reiman, Emissions
Techrreiman@qrinc.com

Hague Equipment
Don DePeel, Sales
Engineerddepeel@chartermi.net

FW Murphy
Michael Jendral
mjendral@fwmurphy.com

Darrell Schmitt
dschcmitt@fwmurphy.com