MONITORING ENGINE COOLING SYSTEM TEMPERATURE INSTABILITIES

Abstract

Some implementations relate to processes for monitoring coolant temperature in pumping units of a hydraulic fracturing operation. Some implementations include a method comprising detecting instability of engine coolant temperature of a first group of one or more pumping units in a hydraulic fracturing operation. The method may include determining that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than a threshold instability value.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

Some implementations relate to managing equipment temperatures. More specifically, some implementations relate to managing engine coolant temperatures of pumping units of a hydraulic fracturing operation.

BACKGROUND

Heat may be a factor contributing to failures of major components of pumping units of a hydraulic fracturing operation. The pumping units may include engine cooling systems that circulate coolants to control and avoid engine overheating. There may be a need for improvements to systems and methods for cooling the pumping units and other equipment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Implementations of the disclosure may be better understood by referencing the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a graph showing instability of engine coolant temperature of a pumping unit of a hydraulic fracturing operation.

FIG. 1B is another graph showing instability of engine coolant temperature of a pumping unit of a hydraulic fracturing operation.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing squared differences between time series engine coolant temperature values.

FIGS. 3A-3C are graphs illustrating engine coolant temperatures of physically adjacent pumping units.

FIGS. 4A-4F are graphs illustrating engine coolant temperatures of physically adjacent pumping units.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating operations of a proxy model configured to monitor engine coolant temperature instability.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a system for hydraulically fracturing subsurface formations in one or more wells.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system that may be utilized with some implementations.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating operations for managing engine coolant instability in one or more pumping units of a hydraulic fracturing operation.

DESCRIPTION OF IMPLEMENTATIONS

The description that follows may include example systems, methods, techniques, and program flows that embody implementations of the disclosure. However, this disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. For clarity, some well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, and techniques may not be shown in detail.

Overview

Some implementations relate to systems and methods for monitoring and remediating unstable engine coolant temperatures in pumping units of a hydraulic fracturing operation. Traditional systems for monitoring engine coolant temperatures may merely compare engine coolant temperature values with maximum allowed temperature values. These traditional systems may determine that the engine coolant temperatures are acceptable so long as they remain below a maximum allowable temperature value. However, engine coolant temperatures may exhibit relatively high variability despite being below the maximum allowable temperature value. Moreover, engine coolant temperatures may momentarily spike above the maximum allowable temperature value without being detected. Despite never detecting unacceptably high engine coolant temperatures, traditional systems may exhibit temperature-related problems such as premature wear, inferior performance, and even catastrophic failure.

Some implementations may detect instability of engine coolant temperatures without relying on any specific sensors developed for tracking engine coolant temperature instability. Some implementations analyze time series data for engine coolant temperature and determine whether engine coolant temperatures are unacceptably unstable. Some implementations may include a proxy model that utilizes truncation methods, adaptive windowing, and/or statistical calculations to detect engine coolant instability in one or more pumping units of a hydraulic fracturing operation. Some implementations may detect propagation of engine coolant temperature instability across pumping units of the fracturing operation (such as across side-by-side pumping units). Some implementations may notify operators of pumping units that currently exhibit temperature instability and of pumping units to which the instability may spread. Hence, operators (or the temperature management system itself) may take remedial action to avoid damage or other undesired physical states of the pumping units in the fracking operation. By avoiding certain physical states (such as overheating), some implementations may enable the units to have better utilization (such as avoiding downtime for repairs) and better performance (such as producing more power by running at higher speeds).

EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATIONS

Some implementations relate to hydraulic fracturing operations used for producing hydrocarbons from the subsurface. Hydraulic fracturing operations may include pumping units configured to inject fluids into a wellbore during hydraulic fracturing. The pumping units may include pumps, internal combustion engines that drive the pumps, cooling systems for the engines, and other components. Additionally, the fracturing operation may include temperature control systems configured for detecting and responding to temperature instabilities arising in the pumping units (and other equipment).

At the beginning of a new fracturing stage, the engine coolant temperature of a pumping unit may be expected to rise to a certain value below a maximum threshold and then remain approximately constant. However, engine coolant temperatures may exhibit instability (such as by exhibiting upward and downward variations). FIG. 1A is a graph showing instability of engine coolant temperatures of a pumping unit of a hydraulic fracturing operation. In FIG. 1A, the graph 100 includes a curve 102 indicating engine coolant temperatures over time. As shown, the curve 102 indicates engine coolant temperature instability. That is, the curve 102 includes numerous step-ups and step-downs of the engine coolant temperature. FIG. 1B is another graph showing instability of engine coolant temperatures of a pumping unit of a hydraulic fracturing operation.

Some implementations have linked engine coolant temperature instability to major repairs and/or replacements of the engines and cooling systems (such as radiators, etc.) of pumping units. Repair costs may relate to the alert frequency for engine coolant temperature instability. Similarly, repair/replacement/reclamation percentages may relate to the alert frequency.

As shown in FIGS. 1A-B, some implementations collect time series data indicating engine coolant temperatures in pumping units. Some implementations may determine a statistical complexity estimate (CE) known as complexity-invariant distance (CID) of the time series data. The CID is a statistical measurement related to Euclidean distance. The physical intuition behind using CID is that more complex time series data may “flatten out” into longer lines than time series data having lesser complexity. For example, in a cartesian coordinate system, a two-dimensional curve of time series data my span a distance of 40 units along the X-axis. When flattened into a single dimension, the time series data may have a length of 60 units along the X-axis. Hence, in some implementations, engine coolant temperature instability varies directly with the length of time series data of engine coolant temperatures. Some implementations may utilize the following equation to compute CID of time series data of engine coolant temperatures:

$\mathrm{CID\_CR}=\sqrt{\sum _{i=1}^{n-1}{\left(q_i-q_{i+1}\right)}^2}$

CID_CE is a property of the shape of a curve itself. CID_CE enables comparison of data sampled at different sampling rates.

Some implementations use other suitable techniques for determining CID for time series engine cooling temperature data. For example, some implementations determine engine coolant temperature instability based on squared differences between engine coolant temperature values of the time series engine coolant temperature data. FIG. 2 is a graph showing squared differences between time series engine coolant temperature values. In the graph 200, the horizontal lines 204 indicate engine coolant temperatures over time. The vertical lines 202 indicate squared differences between variations in the engine coolant temperatures. For example, if the engine coolant temperature rises from 185 degrees to 188 degrees, the squared difference is 9 degrees. Some implementations add the squared differences over a time interval to determine a CID for time series data. Higher CIDs indicate higher temperature instability.

Some implementations may determine a maximum temperature instability threshold value above which coolant temperature instability is considered undesirable or otherwise harmful (such as being harmful by causing overheating conditions and other damage to components of the pumping units). Some implementations may periodically evaluate the engine coolant temperature of respective pumping units in operation and compute their respective engine coolant temperature instabilities over a time interval (such as by computing their respective CIDs). Some implementations may identify pumping units having greater engine coolant temperature instability than the temperature instability threshold. Some implementations may provide alerts (such as messages sent over telecommunications networks) identifying the pumping units that have exceeded the acceptable temperature instability threshold. In response, operators may investigate the causes of temperature instability in the identified pumping units. Additionally, operators may modify one or more components in the identified pumping units. Some implementations may autonomously take remedial action to modify one or more physical states of the identified pumping units (such as changing engine RPM speed, turning off engines, etc.). Operators (or the system itself) may thermally isolate one or more pumping units to contain and/or prevent the spread of engine coolant temperature instability.

Some implementations may detect the spread of temperature instability between the adjacent pumping units. For example, some implementations may initially detect temperature instability in one pumping unit and then in others. Hence, some implementations may detect temperature instability spreading between one or more adjacent pumping units (resulting in two adjacent pumping units exhibiting temperature instability). In some instances, engine coolant temperature instability spreads between pumping units on the same side of a manifold that fluidically connects a plurality of pumping units to a wellbore (see also discussion of FIG. 6). Some implementations may proactively alter one or more physical conditions of the one or more pumping units that are exhibiting temperature instability and/or one or more pumping units to which the temperature instability may spread. For example, some implementations may reduce engine speed for those pumping units exhibiting temperature instability and for those to which the temperature instability may spread. In some instances, different pumping units in the same fracturing stage may exhibit similar engine coolant temperature instability patterns. These units may be physically adjacent to one another and on the same side of the manifold. In any case, some implementations may take corrective action on certain pumping units before they are exhibiting unacceptable levels of engine coolant temperature instability.

FIGS. 3A-C and 4A-F show time series data collected for pumping units exhibiting similar engine coolant temperature instability (such as when instability may be spreading between adjacent pumping units).

FIGS. 3A-3C include graphs illustrating engine coolant temperatures of physically adjacent pumping units. Each respective graph includes a respective curve 302 indicating engine coolant temperatures for a respective pumping unit over time. FIGS. 4A-4F are graphs illustrating engine coolant temperatures of physically adjacent pumping units. Each respective graph includes a respective curve 402 indicating engine coolant temperatures for a respective pumping unit over time.

Some implementations include a proxy model configured to monitor engine coolant temperature instabilities of pumping units of hydraulic fracturing operation. Some implementations generate reports indicating pumping units exhibiting unacceptable temperature instabilities. The reports may indicate each respective pumping unit's CID. The reports also may indicate pumping units that are operating within acceptable temperature ranges. Based on the reports, operators (or the system itself) take remedial action to prevent the spread of or otherwise reduce temperature instability in one or more pumping units.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating operations of a proxy model configured to monitor engine coolant temperature instability. In the flow diagram 500, operations begin at block 502 where the proxy model filters data from a data set to produce time series data of engine coolant temperatures for one or more pumping units that are pumping fluid in a hydraulic fracturing operation. Some implementations filter a data set for data representing pumping unit in operation and in which engine coolant has begun circulating. Filtering may be based, at least in part, on engine RPM, discharge rate, and engine coolant temperature.

At block 504, the proxy model computes engine coolant temperature instability for a time interval. The proxy model may determine engine coolant temperature instability for a time interval based on the CID for a time interval. Although some implementations utilize CID, others utilize other suitable statistical measurements for determining the magnitude engine coolant temperature instability. For example, the proxy model may compute engine temperature coolant instability based on standard deviations of the engine coolant temperature of the time series data. Alternatively, the proxy model may determine a Gaussian distribution of the time series data. Using the Gaussian distribution, the proxy model may determine a magnitude of the engine coolant temperature instability by subtracting the 25^th percentile value from the 75^th percentile value or subtracting the 10^th percentile from the 90^th percentile value. Any suitable statistical computation may be used to determine engine coolant instability. The time interval may be 2 hours or any other suitable time interval. Some implementations perform the loop (including operations at blocks 502, 504, 506) periodically. For example, if the time interval is two hours, the proxy model may perform the loop every 2 hours.

At block 506, the proxy model determines whether the engine coolant temperature instability is above a threshold. For example, if CID is used to represent engine coolant temperature instability, the threshold may represent a CID above which engine coolant temperature instability is unacceptable. The proxy model may determine a suitable threshold value using any statistical metric used for determining a magnitude for the engine coolant temperature instability. If engine coolant temperature instability is above the threshold, flow continues at block 510. Otherwise, flow continues at block 508.

At block 508, given that the engine coolant temperature instability is below the threshold, the proxy model proceeds by waiting a specified time period before looping back to block 502 and repeating the loop. The time period may be predetermined or dynamically determined.

At block 510, given that the engine coolant temperature instability is above the threshold, the proxy model alerts operators. The alert may indicate particular pumping units that are exhibiting engine coolant temperature instability above the threshold. Additionally, the alert may indicate pumping units to which the instability may spread. Some implementations may autonomously take corrective action to address the engine coolant temperature instability. From block 510, the flow ends.

Example System and Operating Environment

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a system for hydraulically fracturing subsurface formations in one or more wells. The system 600 may include a wellhead 602 that is connected to a wellbore. The wellbore (not shown) may be fluidically connected to one or more subsurface formations for the purpose of hydrocarbon recovery. Although FIG. 6 shows only one wellhead 602, there may be any suitable number of wellheads 602 and wells.

The wellhead 602 may be connected to a manifold 604 via piping 606. The piping 606 may include one or more pipes between the wellhead 602 and the manifold 604. Any of the components at the wellsite may include or otherwise be coupled with one or more sensors 603. The manifold 604 may include a plurality of valves 608 and various internal piping (not shown) for performing hydraulic fracturing operations. Any of the valves and components described herein may include or otherwise be coupled with one or more sensors of any suitable type.

The manifold 604 may be connected to one or more pumping units 612. The pumping units 612 may include sensors such as temperature sensors, pressure sensors, viscosity sensors, amperage sensors, voltage sensors, flow sensor, and any other suitable sensor type. Each respective pumping unit 612 also may include a cooling system (show in FIG. 6 as “CS”) configured to control cooling of components (such as an engine) of the respective pumping unit 612.

The pumping units 612 may inject fracturing fluid into the wellbore under specified pressures and at predetermined flow rates. Each pump may be indicative of a single, discrete pumping device, but could alternatively comprise multiple pumps included on or forming part of a pump truck or other pumping platform. Each pumping unit 612 may include an internal combustion engine. All the pumping units 612 may or may not be the same type, size, configuration, or from the same manufacturer. Rather, some or all the pumping units 612 may be unique in size, output capability, etc.

The manifold 604 also may be connected to a blender 616 via piping 618. The blender 616 may be connected via piping 628 to one or more chemical containers 620, water containers 622, and acid containers 624. The blender 616 also may be connected to a sand conveyor 630, where the sand conveyor 630 may be connected to the container of fracturing sanders 632.

The system 600 also may contain a control system 634 configured to control one or more of the components of the system 600. In some implementations, the control system 634 directly controls the equipment in operations for hydraulic fracturing. However, the control system 634 may interact with various equipment controllers (not shown) and sensors to perform operations related to hydraulic fracturing. The control system 634 may include the proxy model 636 which may be configured to perform operations for determining engine coolant temperature instability in the pumping units 612 (as described herein). The proxy model 636 may include any suitable logic (such as one or more machine-readable mediums including computer-executable instructions).

In some implementations, the proxy model 636 may be integrated into a computer system. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system that may be utilized with some implementations. In FIG. 7, the computer system 700 may include one or more processors 702 connected to a system bus 704. The system bus 704 may be connected to memory 708 and a network interface 705. The memory 708 may include any suitable memory random access memory (RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., magnetic memory device), and/or any device for storing information and instructions executable by the processor(s) 702. The network interface 705 may provide connectivity to any suitable network, such as a wired network, wireless network, satellite network, etc.

The computer system 700 may include additional peripheral devices. For example, the computer system 700 may include multiple external multiple processors. In some implementations, any of the components may be integrated or subdivided.

The computer system 700 also may include the proxy model 636. The proxy model 636 may transmit alerts and other information related to engine coolant temperature instability via the network interface 705. In response to such alerts and other information, operators or other components (such as the fracking controller 710) may modify a physical state of a pumping unit or other component (such as an engine, cooling system, or any other component of FIG. 6).

The computer system 700 also may include a sensor controller 712 configured to perform operations for capturing sensor data and filtering the sensor data (as described herein).

The computer system 700 also may include a fracking controller 710 configured to perform operations for controlling hydraulic fracturing in a well. For example, the fracking controller 710 may alter at least one physical aspect of a fracking stage in response to alerts or other information from the proxy model 636.

Although the components are shown separately, any of the components of the computer system 700 may be further combined or subdivided. For example, the proxy model 836 and fracking controller 710 may be combined into a single component or subdivided into three or more components. Any component of the computer system 700 may be implemented as hardware, firmware, and/or machine-readable media including computer-executable instructions for performing the operations described herein. For example, some implementations include one or more non-transitory machine-readable media including computer-executable instructions including program code configured to perform functionality described herein. Machine-readable media includes any mechanism that provides (e.g., stores and/or transmits) information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer system). For example, tangible machine-readable media includes read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory machines, etc. Machine-readable media also includes any media suitable for transmitting software over a network.

Example Method

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating operations for managing engine coolant instability in one or more pumping units of a hydraulic fracturing operation. At block 802, a proxy model detects instability of engine coolant temperature of a first group of one or more pumping units in a hydraulic fracturing operation. At block 804, a proxy model determines that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than a threshold instability value.

EXAMPLE CLAUSES

Some implementations may be described by the following clauses.

Clause 1: A method comprising: detecting instability of engine coolant temperature of a first group of one or more pumping units in a hydraulic fracturing operation; and determining that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than a threshold instability value

Clause 2: The method of clause 1 further comprising: modifying at least one physical component of at least one of the first group of pumping units in response to determining that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than the threshold instability value.

Clause 3: The method of any one or more of clauses 1-2 further comprising: detecting propagation of the instability of the engine coolant temperature from the first group of one or more pumping units to a second group of one or more pumping units of the hydraulic fracturing operation

Clause 4: The method of any one or more of clauses 1-3, wherein the detecting propagation of the instability of the coolant temperature includes measuring heat transfer between the first group of one or more pumping units and the second group of one or more pumping units.

Clause 5: The method of any one or more of clauses 1-4, wherein the second group of one or more pumping units are physically adjacent at least one pumping unit of the first group.

Clause 6: The method of any one or more of clauses 1-5, wherein the physical component includes one or more of: at least one engine of the first group of pumping units, at least one cooling system component of the first group of pumping units.

Clause 7: The method of any one or more of clauses 1-6 further comprising: generating an alert to make the modification to the physical component of the first group of pumping units

Clause 8: The method of any one or more of clauses 1-7 further comprising: determining operation data for the first group of pumping units; filtering the operation data to produce time series data including first temperature samples each indicating a respective engine coolant temperature of a respective pumping unit of the first group.

Clause 9: The method of any one or more of clauses 1-8 further comprising: determining, after a waiting period, instability of the engine coolant temperature of the first group of one or more pumping units in the hydraulic fracturing operation.

Clause 10: One or more machine-readable mediums including instructs that, when executed on one or more processors, perform operations for managing engine coolant temperature, the instructions comprising: instructions to detect instability of engine coolant temperature of a first group of one or more pumping units in a hydraulic fracturing operation; and instructions to determine that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than a threshold instability value.

Clause 11: The one or more machine-readable mediums of clause 10, the instructions further comprising: instructions to modify at least one physical component of at least one of the first group of pumping units in response to determining that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than the threshold instability value

Clause 12: The one or more machine-readable mediums of any one or more of clauses 10-11, the instructions further comprising: instructions to detect propagation of the instability of the engine coolant temperature from the first group of one or more pumping units to a second group of one or more pumping units of the hydraulic fracturing operation.

Clause 13: The one or more machine-readable mediums of any one or more of clauses 10-12, wherein the detecting propagation of the instability of the coolant temperature includes measuring heat transfer between the first group of one or more pumping units and the second group of one or more pumping units.

Clause 14: The one or more machine-readable mediums of any one or more of clauses 10-13, wherein the second group of one or more pumping units are physically adjacent at least one pumping unit of the first group.

Clause 15: The one or more machine-readable mediums of any one or more of clauses 10-14, wherein the physical component includes one or more of: at least one engine of the first group of pumping units, at least one cooling system component of the first group of pumping units.

Clause 16: The one or more machine-readable mediums of any one or more of clauses 10-15, the instructions further comprising: instructions to generate an alert to make the modification to the physical component of the first group of pumping units.

Clause 17: The one or more machine-readable mediums of any one or more of clauses 10-16, the instructions further comprising: instructions to determine operation data for the first group of pumping units; instructions to filter the operation data to produce time series data including first temperature samples each indicating a respective engine coolant temperature of a respective pumping unit of the first group.

Clause 18: The one or more machine-readable mediums of any one or more of clauses 10-17, the instructions further comprising: determining, after a waiting period, instability of the engine coolant temperature of the first group of one or more pumping units in the hydraulic fracturing operation.

Clause 19: A system comprising: one or more processors; one or more machine-readable mediums including instructs that, when executed on one or more processors, perform operations for managing engine coolant temperature, the instructions including instructions to detect instability of engine coolant temperature of a first group of one or more pumping units in a hydraulic fracturing operation, and instructions to determine that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than a threshold instability value.

Clause 20: The system of clause 19, the instructions further comprising: instructions to modify at least one physical component of at least one of the first group of pumping units in response to determining that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than the threshold instability value

FIGS. 1-8 and the operations and components described herein are examples meant to aid in understanding example implementations and should not be used to limit the potential implementations or limit the scope of the claims. None of the implementations described herein may be performed exclusively in the human mind nor exclusively using pencil and paper. None of the implementations described herein may be performed without computerized components such as those described herein. Some implementations may perform additional operations, fewer operations, operations in parallel or in a different order, and some operations differently. Some implementations may perform the operations with different components.

As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c.

The various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm processes described in connection with the implementations disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. The interchangeability of hardware and software has been described in terms of functionality, and illustrated in the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and processes described throughout. Whether such functionality is implemented in hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

The hardware and data processing apparatus used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the implementations disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose single- or multi-chip processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor also may be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some implementations, particular processes and methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.

In one or more implementations, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, digital electronic circuitry, computer software, firmware, including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents thereof, or in any combination thereof. Implementations of the subject matter described in this specification also may be implemented as one or more computer programs, such as one or more modules of computer program instructions stored on a computer storage media for execution by, or to control the operation of, a computing device.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. The processes of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be implemented in a processor-executable instructions which may reside on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that may be enabled to transfer a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available media that may be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection may be properly termed a computer-readable medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-Ray™ disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations also may be included within the scope of computer-readable media. Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and instructions on a machine readable medium and computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.

Various modifications to the implementations described in this disclosure may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles and the novel features disclosed herein.

Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate implementations also may be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation also may be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be described as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be removed from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Further, the drawings may schematically depict one more example process in the form of a flow diagram. However, some operations may be omitted and/or other operations that are not depicted may be incorporated in the example processes that are schematically illustrated. For example, one or more additional operations may be performed before, after, simultaneously, or between any of the illustrated operations. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system components in the implementations described should not be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations, and the described program components and systems may be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products. Additionally, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. In some cases, the actions recited in the claims may be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting instability of engine coolant temperature of a first group of one or more pumping units in a hydraulic fracturing operation; and

determining that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than a threshold instability value.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

modifying at least one physical component of at least one of the first group of pumping units in response to determining that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than the threshold instability value.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the physical component includes one or more of: at least one engine of the first group of pumping units, at least one cooling system component of the first group of pumping units.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

generating an alert to make the modification to the physical component of the first group of pumping units.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

detecting propagation of the instability of the engine coolant temperature from the first group of one or more pumping units to a second group of one or more pumping units of the hydraulic fracturing operation.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the detecting propagation of the instability of the coolant temperature includes measuring heat transfer between the first group of one or more pumping units and the second group of one or more pumping units.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the second group of one or more pumping units are physically adjacent at least one pumping unit of the first group.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining operation data for the first group of pumping units;

filtering the operation data to produce time series data including first temperature samples each indicating a respective engine coolant temperature of a respective pumping unit of the first group.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

determining, after a waiting period, instability of the engine coolant temperature of the first group of one or more pumping units in the hydraulic fracturing operation.

10. One or more machine-readable mediums including instructs that, when executed on one or more processors, perform operations for managing engine coolant temperature, the instructions comprising:

instructions to detect instability of engine coolant temperature of a first group of one or more pumping units in a hydraulic fracturing operation; and

instructions to determine that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than a threshold instability value.

11. The one or more machine-readable mediums of claim 10, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to modify at least one physical component of at least one of the first group of pumping units in response to determining that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than the threshold instability value.

12. The one or more machine-readable mediums of claim 10, wherein the physical component includes one or more of: at least one engine of the first group of pumping units, at least one cooling system component of the first group of pumping units.

13. The one or more machine-readable mediums of claim 10, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to generate an alert to make the modification to the physical component of the first group of pumping units.

14. The one or more machine-readable mediums of claim 10, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to determine operation data for the first group of pumping units;

instructions to filter the operation data to produce time series data including first temperature samples each indicating a respective engine coolant temperature of a respective pumping unit of the first group.

15. The one or more machine-readable mediums of claim 14, the instructions further comprising:

determining, after a waiting period, instability of the engine coolant temperature of the first group of one or more pumping units in the hydraulic fracturing operation.

16. The one or more machine-readable mediums of claim 10, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to detect propagation of the instability of the engine coolant temperature from the first group of one or more pumping units to a second group of one or more pumping units of the hydraulic fracturing operation.

17. The one or more machine-readable mediums of claim 16, wherein the detecting propagation of the instability of the coolant temperature includes measuring heat transfer between the first group of one or more pumping units and the second group of one or more pumping units.

18. The one or more machine-readable mediums of claim 12, wherein the second group of one or more pumping units are physically adjacent to at least one pumping unit of the first group.

19. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more machine-readable mediums including instructs that, when executed on one or more processors, perform operations for managing engine coolant temperature, the instructions including instructions to detect instability of engine coolant temperature of a first group of one or more pumping units in a hydraulic fracturing operation, and instructions to determine that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than a threshold instability value.

20. The system of claim 19, the instructions further comprising:

instructions to modify at least one physical component of at least one of the first group of pumping units in response to determining that the instability of the engine coolant temperature is greater than the threshold instability value.