Liberty Oilfield Services Inc. and Rolls-Royce announced Aug. 16 the selection of Rolls-Royce’s mtu gas generator sets to power Liberty’s digiFrac electric frac pumps. Liberty’s digiFrac is the industry’s first purpose-built, fully integrated electric frac pump with high power density and significantly lower emissions compared to the best available frac pump technology in the market. Rolls-Royce mtu gas generator sets (gensets) will be used to power digiFrac pumps with continuous duty power that can withstand intense pressure pumping applications.

“Liberty is at the forefront of technology invention in the completion services industry and the selection of mtu engines to power digiFrac is significant in our plan for continuous improvement," commented Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty.

"We chose mtu natural gas gensets because of Rolls-Royce’s innovation potential to expand the power density of the solution over the same footprint. Together, these technologies advance environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) goals of reducing emissions and delivering a low total cost of ownership solution to Liberty’s exploration and production (E&P) customers.”

Liberty’s digiFrac electric frac pump is a power-dense electric frac pump with 40% more horsepower than conventional technologies. digiFrac pumps were built with the flexibility to utilize the most efficient power options. Using a natural gas fueled genset, digiFrac will have at least 25% lower emissions compared to other off grid power sources. The continuous duty mtu gas gensets, which are already being utilized in stationary oil and gas applications globally, can be powered with LNG, CNG or field gas resulting in significant fuel savings compared to diesel-powered units.

“The careful evaluation of sources of power generation for the power-dense operations led our team to determine that natural gas fueled reciprocating engines are the best power solution for hydraulic fracturing applications," said Ron Gusek, President of Liberty. "Gas reciprocating engines are meaningfully more efficient than alternative off grid power sources in managing large transient loads and variations in ambient temperature and pressure. When commercialized, Liberty will offer the industry’s first complete, designed-for-purpose electric suite of frac technology, including the digiFrac pump and power solution and our electric wireline and backside equipment."

Dave Bosco, senior sales and business development manager of Global Oil and Gas for Rolls-Royce Power Systems, said, "This project is the result of the hard work of our oil and gas team, which was tasked with populating the market with products focused around the Rolls-Royce Power Systems PS 2030 strategy, aimed at transforming the company into an integrated, sustainable power solutions provider and delivering systems to electrify industries which aid in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions."

He continued, “These gensets allow for high operating time before needed overhaul, offer continuous duty power delivery for intense pressure pumping applications, and have the ability to integrate into complete systems for delivery of best-in-class performance and efficiency. They are capable of operating for 8,000 hours per year under full load applications and are built for the oilfield of tomorrow, today.”