Power Company Uses Dual Fuel to Extend Diesel Supplies

Roughrider Power in Casper, Wyoming, provides remote power generation for coal bed natural gas producers in the Western U.S. Operators use Roughrider's diesel engines to power the pumps and compressors that keep gas flowing at the wellhead.

Kit Jennings, owner of Roughrider, realized the industry had a problem. Diesel engines are reliable, but their fuel supply isn't. To reach many remote sites, trucks had to travel for miles over unpaved roads. Too often, weather threatened to disrupt deliveries. The alternative – installing additional expensive fuel storage tanks – was not attractive.

Jennings also had environmental concerns. With thousands of generators operating at remote coal bed natural gas wells throughout the West, the region's clean air and highly prized visibility were threatened by growing emissions of black diesel soot and nitrogen oxide, a prime ingredient in smog.

Looking for a solution, Jennings discovered APG's dual fuel. He began converting his diesel engines to run on a combination of diesel fuel and natural gas.

"Critics said 'you can't put natural gas in a diesel engine.' But we did," said Jennings. "APG is so successful we have competitors who are trying to copy us. But they don't understand APG's process."

Jennings' involvement began with a clean-air grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to convert 20 diesel generators in the 75 kw to 150 kw range to dual fuel. Now, Roughrider gets all of the economic and environmental benefits of dual fuel, including lower operating costs and cleaner emissions.

Engines that run on dual fuel emit significantly less diesel soot and nitrogen oxide without the expense of adding pollution control equipment. An added bonus is that on-site supplies of diesel fuel stretch further, eliminating the need to buy additional storage tanks.

Jennings says he measures success by the week. One 1,000-gallon diesel tank used to be refilled every week. But that was before the engine was converted to dual fuel.

"We filled it up three weeks ago, and there's still diesel in it," Jennings says of one of his engines. "When you turn on the gas, the engine just levels out and purrs."

For more information about American Power Group's dual fuel technology, call 866-249-2563.