Canadian project puts high-horesepower frac pump into the field

Texas-based Weir Oil & Gas has partnered with Canada-based Canyon Services Group to take Weir’s SPM QEM 3000 frac pump to the field. It is the industry’s first high-horsepower frac pump designed for continuous-duty pressure pumping operations at a sustained 275,000-lb rod load, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The pump is projected to reduce total cost of ownership by 17%.

The new technology was validated through extensive in-house testing at Weir’s R&D facility, which resulted in the completion of a 13 million-cycle endurance test.

Canyon’s upcoming field run will operate for at least 4,000 hrs and include deployment of the SPM QEM 3000 to a production site for fracking operations in the Duvernay and Montney formations in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. Specifically, the pump was retrofitted onto a hydraulic fracturing power system currently in use at a live, Canyon-operated well site by R4 Equipment Renewal.

“At Weir, we work in close partnership with our customers, and, during the development of the SPM QEM 3000, input from partners like Canyon was crucial. This customer-led approach means we now have a pump that is not only the most durable on the market but also addresses demand for more efficient, continuous-duty equipment with a lower cost of ownership,” said David Paradis, President of Pressure Pumping at Weir. “The traditional frac pump development process typically tests up to 1 million cycles at full-rod load, so the fact that our R&D team has completed a 13 million-cycle endurance test proves the SPM QEM 3000 is second to none in terms of durability, cost-efficiency, long-term performance and life span.”

Todd Thue, Chief Operating Officer at Canyon, added: “Required operating hours, increased rod loads, longer laterals, increased proppant volumes, and more completion stages have translated into increasing demand for continuous-duty equipment. Through collaborations with partners like Weir, we are able to keep up with our evolving industry and find solutions to these challenges, improving our efficiency in the field and ultimately reducing our operating costs.”

The pump also features a dual-line system to provide the right amount of pressure and flow for each pump component and excellent lube flow in cold starts, as well as onboard filtration to reduce lubricant contamination to optimize pump performance. Further, it has gearbox capabilities to withstand continuous-duty operations at a 275,000-lb rod load with minimal maintenance and a patented geometry of SPM Duralast Fluid End that lowers cross bore stresses by at least 30%.