Air Pollution Control for the Hydraulic Fracturing Industry Protecting the Workers Protecting the Environment Controlling Escape of Airborne Sand

Site without Dust Collection Equipment as sand is being loaded. Workers required to wear dust masks while sand is being loaded and transferred.

In 2013 OSHA released this Hazard Alert the Hydraulic Fracturing industry. Our System was recommended as a acceptable solution by NIOSH. In 2011 Imperial Systems recognized a serious hazard to health and environment through exposure to displaced silica laden air. This is created from the high velocity transfer of sand used in the fracturing process. The polluted air is emitted to atmosphere. In addition to serious health concerns for those in the area, effects to the environment are an unfortunate consequence.

Three Acceptable solutions according to NIOSH 1.Centralized system with hoses and manifolds (Major Set Up Time and Cost). These systems can be over $100,000 is just equipment cost. 2.Imperial Systems Dust Pig mounted on APPCO trailer. No set up required. Handles dust at all points of concern. Imperial Systems Method is the only system on the market that requires no additional labor to operate and captures 100% of emissions at source. Cost for a unit is approximately $25,000 for the equipment. 3.Simple bags (Major issues with weather, no cleaning mechanism, very dirty, worker exposure.) Cheap alternative that is ineffective.

Solution: Imperial worked to create a solution with the transfer/ storage equipment and the onsite end users. Our answer, the Dust Pig, is universal to all equipment and technologies where the material transfer process exists on fracturing job sites. The Dust Pig and all dust collection processes are patented by Imperial Systems for all fracturing work sites. Dust Pig

As sand is loaded the doors on top are opened to relieve excess pressure. This allow sand to escape. This is a video of that process without using our dust collector.

This is video of the area around the sand storage unit when the doors are on top and sand is allowed to release. Notice the dust collector connected to the drum.

This video shows the doors on top shut as the sand is loaded from the trucks on the right. The dust collector is running balancing the excess pressure and collecting the sand.

Another video of the area while sand is being loaded. Notice no visible sand is in the air.

Flow This diagram shows how the dirty air inside the storage unit flows to the collector (on the left). Sand is captured by filters and clean air is released. The internal working of the dust collector automatically clean the filters and deposit the sand in a drum (not shown). Dust Pig

Process: We balance the displaced air created by excess pressure when transferring through the system and collect the particulates. Our proprietary technology for cleaning and our patented dust collection process is the only practical recognized option for these methods. As the sand is blown in the trailer the evacuated air is captured in the Dust Pig (instead of escaping through the open doors on top), particulates are filtered and clean air is exhausted to atmosphere. The other points of capture is the material transfer from the stingers to the multi sander and from the multi sander to the blender. This is done without the need of additional set up or field work as the unit is mounted directly to the equipment. Dust Pig Doors

Results of Solution: The on-site process/ procedure used to transfer the sand is not changed. The truck mounted Dust Pig simply works by allowing the openings on top of the storage unit to be closed and flowing the dirty air through the Dust Pig collector. Central system that address all potential dust sources. Operators simply operate the equipment and load sand as they always have with zero labor required to run the dust collection equipment. The initial, uninstalled cost of the equipment is approximately $25,000. Imperial has over 100 of these units running in the United States and Canada. The result is a user friendly, inexpensive, simple process that provides clean air for persons affected and a positive effect on the environment.