The size and brightness of the resulting flame depend on the flammable material’s flow rate in terms of joules per hour (or btu per hour). The released gases are burned as they exit the flare stacks. The released gases and liquids are routed through large piping systems called flare headers, to a vertical elevated flare.
Those pressure relief valves are required by industrial design codes and standards, as well as by law. Whenever industrial plant equipment items are overpressurized, the pressure relief valves provided as essential safety devices on the equipment automatically release gases and sometimes liquids. A flare system generally consists of an elevated stack, means to maintain burning conditions at the top of stack, and means to prevent flashback within the system. Handling emergency releases from safety valves, blow-down, and depressuring systemsĭesigns will vary considerably, depending on the type of connected equipment and the complexity of the overall system.
Depending on local environmental constraints, these systems can be used for: 1.Įxtensive venting during start up or shutdown 2. Implementation of HIPPS is a solution that can be considered in all of the above-mentioned cases in order to reduce flare capacity.įlare systems provide for the safe disposal of gaseous wastes. In some cases, a refinery or petrochemical plant may require expansion and an increase in the capability of the pressure relief valves and connected flare lines. Therefore the purpose of this chapter is to focus on using a high integrity pressure protection system (HIPPS) to reduce flare capacity and thus flare emission to the environment. Flaring is not applicable to the subsea oil and gas industry. Thus the discussion in this chapter covers refineries, petrochemical plants and onshore and topside oil field developments. Approximately one-fourth of the flare gas and greenhouse emission comes from offshore topside platforms. In some cases, the gas may contain hydrogen sulfide (H 2S) which is a very toxic compound. The main greenhouse gases that are released to the environment through flaring are methane (CH 4) and carbon dioxide (CO 2). The flaring of natural gas worldwide in the oil and gas industry produces 400 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Some statistics show that more than 140 billion cubic meters of natural gas are flared annually. 7.2, rather than releasing them into the atmosphere without burning them, is a more environmentally friendly solution, a great amount of greenhouse gas is released into the environment through flaring. Although burning hydrocarbons in a flare, as illustrated in Fig. Flare systems are elevated to keep the open flame away from ground level and reduce the effects of heat, smoke and noise.