Built for the Cold: Why Kathairos’ Nitrogen Solution Excels in Winter

Winter brings unique challenges for oil and gas operators, from safety risks and equipment downtime to harsh conditions that put entire sites at risk. At Kathairos, ensuring reliability and peace of mind during these critical months is a top priority.

We sat down with Patrick Dwyer, Project Manager, to discuss how Kathairos’ systems are designed to withstand extreme cold, how the operations team prepares customers for winter, and why nitrogen-powered pneumatics are proving to be the most reliable solution on the market.

From your perspective, what are the biggest challenges oil and gas operators face when winter arrives?

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Safety is the most important factor when it comes to the field.  Icy conditions make this a major challenge as well. Secondly, oil and gas operators’ biggest challenge during winter is downtime.  Whether it comes to equipment failure, lines freezing, or simply road access, these are major concerns when winter arrives.  

How does Kathairos design its systems to handle harsh winter conditions?

Kathairos has made a solution that can handle any climate and truly shows off when it comes to harsh winters.  The vessel itself is designed to keep liquid nitrogen as cold as -320 degrees F (-195 degrees C). It not only is designed to hold cold product on the inside but is tested and cold weather engineered to be out in the elements without a shelter or platform. With no moving parts and simple thermodynamics, it doesn’t care if it is -30 degrees in Alberta, our system will keep running with the same reliability.

How does Kathairos’ equipment and services keep operations running smoothly during extreme cold?

Kathairos’ solution emphasizes the convenience of having an inert, dry nitrogen supplying your pneumatics. Many operators will choose to turn their sites on nitrogen during the winter months, if it is not a primary source, due to the reliability of our system.  We’ve seen operators in the Permian and Eagle Ford increasingly recognize the value of the system during winter—especially larger producers who can’t afford any downtime when a cold front hits.

What steps does Kathairos take in the fall to prepare customers for the winter months?  

Our operations team is the heartbeat of the company and is the true value of our solution. Our op team stays in constant communication with our clients’ field team getting sites prepared for winter. This comes into play whether they need to make more frequent trips due to the extra pumps and equipment operators run in the winter or if they need to top off a tank before a heavy blizzard. Kathairos considers upsizing tanks for limited winter access sites to give those sites extra volume during brutally harsh months. They take a lot of pride in not letting a tank run dry regardless of how cold it is outside.  

How does our solution contribute to safety and peace of mind for customers operating in winter conditions?

Once again, safety is the upmost priority, especially with ice and snow on the ground. For our customers, our solution can give them peace of mind by limiting personnel on location and the frequency of being on the road. The reliability of our solution means no tech or mechanic gets called out to site. We also can alleviate a lot of stress by using our telemetry system.  We have also rolled out Atlas, a live dashboard that operators can use to check the tank levels and pressures as well as send them notifications from the warmth of sitting at their desk or on the couch at home.

In your view, what sets Kathairos apart from other solution providers when it comes to reliability and durability in winter?

Kathairos is the most superior solution on the market when it comes to the winter months. No need to rely on the sun or batteries to power your system in a storm. There are no freezes ups when you are running your devices off nitrogen and no worries if a power line goes down in a storm. Instrument air and solar batteries solutions have a hard time competing due to moisture build up over time, freezing, or simply maintenance changing out filters. With our hands-off approach, and with no rotating parts, our tanks will keep running with no failures. Thermodynamics has been around forever and it’s not going away. There is a reason why our uptime is 99.99%.

If you could give operators one piece of advice for preparing their sites for winter, what would it be?

As we have all heard before, winter is coming! Kathairos Solutions certainly knows how to handle harsh winters, and we understand the importance of what keeping your sites online truly means. The best advice I would recommend to an operator is to ask yourself how much value your system is adding and can you trust it over winter. What is your reliability and what are you getting out of it, more than just a piece of equipment? Is your solution provider a trusted advisor? Lastly, are you ready to partner with Kathairos Solutions this winter?

To get your operations ready for the winter, reach out to us today!