Exxaro, a South Africa-based mining group which provided several test sites for the product, has placed an inaugural order for seven complete pumping systems for its Botswana Coal project, while a strategic customer in the northwestern United States has also placed an order for 14 systems.
Over the last two years, Franklin Electric has been field testing artificial lift products in coalbed methane, shale gas and oil-stripper fields throughout the US, sub-Saharan Africa and Australia.
Originally developed for the coalbed methane extraction market, Franklin Electric's artificial lift systems use submersible water pumping technology to de-liquefy gas wells, allowing the gas to be released from geological formations and rise to the surface.