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Fracking equipment at airport meets EPA emissions standards

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Consol Energy Inc. and Halliburton said Wednesday they will deploy the first hydraulic fracturing spread that is fully compliant with the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2015 Tier 4F emissions standard for non-road, high-horsepower engines.

The companies said in a news release that Tier 4F equipment will be used to complete fracturing jobs on all six pads on Pittsburgh International Airport property.

Completions on Pad 2 at PIT began Wednesday with an expected 36 percent overall reduction in emissions as a result of the new equipment.

“Given the importance of this project to the entire Pittsburgh region, we are firmly committed to conducting our operations in accordance with the highest safety and environmental standards,” said Tim Dugan, Consol’s chief operating officer for exploration and production. “So, we issued a challenge to deliver the lowest-emitting fracturing fleet possible, using the latest technology and Halliburton stepped up to the plate.” Halliburton teamed up with Cummins to maximize the use of the Tier 4F engines. In addition to building a spread that is fully Tier 4F-compliant, Halliburton said it is also using its existing emissions-reducing technologies on-site, including the solar panel-powered SandCastle PS-2500 Vertical Proppant Storage System.

Richard Gonzalez, vice president of Halliburton’s production enhancement business line, said building a fully Tier 4-compliant fracturing fleet that would meet emissions requirements for the Pittsburgh airport took extensive testing of prototype engines over the past few years.

According to Cummins, compared to engines produced in 2000, the Tier 4F-compliant engines reduce particulate matter by 93 percent and oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbon by 63 percent. Halliburton said its fracturing fleets have had 2015 Tier 4F-compliant engines in some of its blending equipment since 2010, and the new engines will power its fracturing pumps to complete the full Tier 4F fleet.

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