Many energy companies are working throughout the shale gas regions of Pennsylvania and Ohio. One of these is Gulfport Energy, which has some prominent and high-producing wells in Belmont and Monroe Counties in Ohio.
Both of the counties are ideally situated in the Marcellus Shale region and have yielded high production rates of natural gas for the company and consumers who rely on natural gas. But along with achieving the quality natural gas yields are a lot of management concerns for Gulfport Energy.
One of those is the need to source water for use in hydraulic fracturing operations, which brings on another environmental concern: making sure that the amounts of water the company takes out of nearby streams or rivers is sustainable and doesn’t harm the aquatic life they harbor.
Fulfilling this management concern requires consistent data on the waterways from which Gulfport Energy sources its water. The company worked with NexSens Technology to acquire the equipment it needed to set up a monitoring network to provide continuous data and real-time alerts. This included data loggers, sensors and web datacenter services.
Tracking impoundment levels
The most important parameter that the energy company needs to monitor throughout the network is water impoundment levels. Regardless of whether water being used in operations comes from a lake, river, stream or impoundment, the company wants to avoid taking too much so that there are minimal effects to creatures living within them as well as to water quality.
To achieve the precise measurements of water impoundment levels required, Gulfport Energy sourced several NexSens 3100-iSIC Data Loggers and 6100-iSIC Data Loggers to deploy around source water sites throughout the Marcellus Shale wells they operate. To each of these, the company has mounted an HSA TB4 Syphoning Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge. These gauges feature aluminum construction and stainless steel bearings in the tipping mechanism for incredible durability under normal environmental conditions.
In addition, APG PT-500 Submersible Pressure Transducers are deployed directly in the water body of interest to track water level. The transducers feature built-in lightning protection and a temperature sensor that reports data as well as compensates the pressure measurement.
After sensors send data to the loggers, they are relayed to a NexSens WQData LIVE Web Datacenter. Cellular telemetry is used by the 3100-iSIC loggers. Where cellular networks are not available, 6100-iSIC loggers send data to the datacenter via satellite telemetry.
The datacenter displays operations’ information online in a single location easily accessible by all project managers. Within WQData LIVE, Gulfport Energy operators configure alerts (email, text messages, etc.) that let them know if there are changes to any of the waterways in real time.
The NexSens X2 Environmental Data Logger offers the latest in real-time monitoring technology with wireless communication, large plug-and-play sensor library, and ultra-low power consumption.
Designed to resist the elements, the Seametrics PT12 delivers accurate pressure and temperature readings in rugged environments.
The YSI H-3401 is a precision tipping bucket rain gauge with optional SDI-12 output for use in hydro-meteorological applications.
WQData LIVE is a web-based project management service that allows users 24/7 instant access to data collected from remote telemetry systems.