CleanAIR Systems Installs Pollution Control Filters on BP North Sea Oil Platform

Santa Fe, NM – August 21, 2006 – What does a BP oil platform located 150 miles north of Aberdeen, Scotland in the Central North Sea and an emissions control company from the American Southwest have in common? The answer is the desire for a cleaner environment!

Last November, CleanAIR Systems, Inc. was surprised to receive an email from BP, one of the world’s largest oil companies, asking about emission control products. As operator of the Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP), BP was concerned at the possibility of diesel exhaust produced by the platform’s two stationary generators entering the crew’s living and office space through the ventilation intake during ETAP’s annual “Turn Around” (TAR), which had traditionally been addressed by temporary means. A brief period each year, the “Turn Around” is the time when essential maintenance and modifications are made to the platform. During these few weeks, diesel stationary generators are used for power rather than the platform’s larger gas turbines, saving BP a considerable amount in operating costs.

As a global leader in alternative energy and environmental issues, BP understood the need to provide a safe and healthy living environment for their 100-member crew. That’s why they contacted CleanAIR Systems, Inc. According to Ross Lloyd, BP Project Coordinator, “CleanAIR Systems was chosen because they were the only supplier with the ability to manufacture regenerating catalytic units of this size that were approved and tested on our Caterpillar 3516 engines. They were also verified by the highest emissions standard in the world – the CARB (California Air Resource Board) regulations. The aim was to provide a permanent solution to the risk of hydrocarbon exhaust entering the accommodations during TAR.”

Facing a variety of technical challenges, the engineers at CleanAIR Systems, in tandem with engineers at BP and Wood Group, went to work designing a filter/silencer system for the ETAP stationary generators to reduce emissions of particulate matter, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide by 90% in accordance with tough CARB standards. Using an integrated manufacturing approach, CleanAIR’s CARB-verified PERMIT™ diesel particulate filters were installed within a silencer containment. The systems needed to meet stringent safety regulations pertaining to all oil platforms in the North Sea and tight space restrictions on ETAP. Due to the compact installation area, which also limited access to the internal filters housed within the exhaust silencer, a unique design was the only solution. CleanAIR engineers came up with an unusual one-of-a-kind construction, allowing for the front end of the silencer to be removed for direct contact with the CleanAIR PERMIT™ Filters.

Another factor was time! CleanAIR had to work fast and be on target to guarantee installation during the platform’s specified “Turn Around”. The timeline from initial discussion, to design, manufacture, shipping and installation was a short eight months, with final installation taking place in July of 2006. The two filter/silencer systems, weighing over two tons each, were shipped by truck to Texas, then by cargo plane to ETAP.

In a recent email to CleanAIR Systems, Lloyd wrote: “Many thanks for all your input and patience – the success of this project means that a crew of 100 men can continue to sleep and work knowing that they are in a healthy environment, concentrating on bringing the ETAP platform – a producer of over 90,000 barrels of oil a day for the UK – back to full production level.”

Established in 1993, CleanAIR Systems, Inc. is a technology-based corporation manufacturing emission control systems with worldwide distribution. Their products are designed to control air pollution for on- and off-road vehicles, as well as stationary machinery.