An Introduction to Flare Systems

Presentation contents

• What and why gas flaring?

• Flare system overview
• Flare system components
• Design guidelines
• How much we flare
• Alternate(s)

• Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR)

• Exercise – Simple flare system design
What and why gas flaring?

• Flare is the last line of defense in the emergency release system in an Oil and Gas
processing facility

• Flare provides a means of safe disposal of gas vapor streams from processing
facilities, by burning them under controlled conditions such that adjacent
equipment or personnel are not exposed to hazards.

• Gas flaring is required during,

• Relief from pressure relieving devices due to process upsets (PSV’s)
• Plant Emergency depressurization (ESD)

• Gas venting is required during,

• Relief from a system where the relieving pressure is lower than the flare system
back pressure (Equipment maintenance)

• Venting is always subject to the environmental regulations and legislations

(primarily in presence of H2S)
Flare system overview
Flare system overview
Flare system overview
Flare system overview
Flare system overview
Flare system Components

• Flare Tip
• Flare pilot

• Flare Seals

• Flare Stack

• Flare Knock out

drum and pumps
• Flare Header

• Relieving
devices(Relief Valves
/ Rupture Disks /
Blow down valves)
Water
seal
Flare stacks can also be ignited by a flare pistol, a cable and pulley
arrangement with a burning oily rag, or a bow with flaming arrows.
The self-supporting stack is a freestanding stack anchored to a base. Self-supported
flare system is used for lower heights when radiation exerted is low. It uses less space for
installation. Self-supporting flares are generally used for lower flare tower heights 9mtr to
30mtr but can be designed for up to 75mtr.

The derrick-supported stack is located in the center of a derrick structure and is held to
the structure by tie rods and guides. Derrick-supported flares can be built to a
considerable height since the system load is spread over the derrick structure. Derrick
supported flare system is optimum installation for higher heights where high radiation is
exerted. This design provides for differential expansion between the stack, piping, and
derrick. Derrick-supported flares are the most expensive design for a given flare height.
The derrick-supported stacks have been built for around 120mtr height. 
The guyed stack is anchored by guy wires. The guy-supported flare is the simplest of all the
support methods. However, a considerable amount of land is required since the guy wires
are widely spread apart. Guy rope supported flare system is used when toxic gases are
burned at medium height. A rule of thumb for space required to erect a guy-supported flare
is a circle on the ground with a radius equal to the height of the flare stack. These have
been constructed up to height of 180mtr.

For flare stacks higher than 180 meters, a concrete support structure is required.
Flare Tips
• Its function is to burn flare gas, a volatile organic compound (VOC) in an open
flame in open air to a nearly complete VOC destruction in an environmentally
acceptable combustion levels for the complete flow range.
• Flaring process generally produces some undesirable products such as SO x , NOx ,
COx in addition to noise, smoke, heat radiation etc. Proper design of flare tip
minimizes these effects.
• Types
Sub Sonic Pipe flare
(Mach <1) Low Pressure

Sonic High Pressure flares

(Mach =1) Multi-nozzle/Coanda

Supersonic High Pressure flares

(Mach >1) Very high capacity
Flare Tips
• An adequate air supply and good mixing are required for complete combustion and
minimize smoke
• Some gas compositions requires assistance from external source to have smokeless
flaring
• Depends on type of assistance, flares can be categorized as,
Flare tip without any auxiliary provision for air mixing
Non-Assisted
Gas streams with low heat content

Steam- Flare tip provided with steam injection at the combustion zone
Assisted Refineries and chemical plants

Flare tip provided with air assist at the combustion zone

Air-Assisted
Small flares where non availability of steam

Pressure- Uses pressure of vent stream

Assisted Most high pressure drop tips uses this approach
Flare Pilot
• Provide continuous flame at the flare tip. Generally installed at the
outside perimeter

• Pilots are generally ignited by an ignition system, generally

automatic and monitored by sensors/CCTV etc.

• A flame out in flare system creates an ESD situation hence

reliable and robust pilot design to be ensured.

Flare Seals
• Provide a barrier
• Gas seals prevent ingress of air into the flare system.
Specialty seals aids in purge gas reduction

• Liquid seal prevent flash back, generally in the KOD or

a separate liquid seal pot
Flare Stack
• Elevate the flare to the necessary height/direction to meet
acceptable heat radiation, toxic gas dispersion and noise levels.
• Types
• Self Supported
• Short flare stacks,
• Can be made up to 250 ft tall, but will be very
expensive
• Guyed
• Riser pipe with guyed support
• Approximately a circle with a diameter equal to height of
the stack required
• Derrick
• Tower like structure
• can be built for any height, retractable
• very expensive

• Boom Structure
• Installed at an angle
• Most common in offshore
Flare Knock Out Drum (KOD)

• to separate liquid from the gas before it is flared or vented

• to hold the maximum amount of liquid which can be relieved during an emergency
situation
• usually sized to cater for maximum gas as well as liquid release case
• available in both horizontal and vertical types, selection depends on economics and
space availability
 Flare Header
• Piping system that collects relief gases from individual devices and route it to flare
• Shall be designed to have minimum pressure drop
• Generally purged with a hydrocarbon or inert gas to have a positive pressure to
avoid air ingress. Gas(molecular) seals helps in reducing the purge rate.
• Header design shall consider proper sloping, generally located at the top deck on
pipe rack

Relieving devices
• Pressure safety valves ( Conventional, Balanced & Pilot operated)

• Rupture disks
• Blow down valves in emergency depressurizing systems
• Pressure control valves
• Remotely operated valves
Design guidelines
• Requirements to design a flare system

Determine max relief rate of the system, it can be from a utility failure , fire
Calculate or emergency depressurization.
design Double jeopardy shall not be considered to determine the peak flare load
flare load Credit can be taken for instrumented protection systems (check with the
philisophy)

Heat Locate the flare stack in the desired location. Stack shall be located
radiation adhering the minimum radiation levels criteria (refer to API 521)
and Carry out heat radiation calculation – Flaresim can be used
dispersion Contribution from solar radiation shall be considered
analysis Carry out dispersion calculation adhering to the environmental guidelines

Use different criteria to size tail pipes, sub-headers and main headers
Design
headers Use minimum number of valves, all the valves to be car-sealed
and sub- Segregate flare system depending upon the type of release
headers Carryout hydraulics – Flarenet can be used

Determine purging requirements (Rule of thumb: Purge gas velocity 0.5 to

Establish 1ft/sec)
utility
requiremen Smokeless requirements and the necessary utilities (Steam , Air, Gas)
ts Heat shielding requirements
How much we flare?

Considering a
heating value of
900 btu/scf and
4$/MMBtu, the
value of gas flared
from these fields is
about 115 million
USD in 2009
How much we flare?

Considering a
heating value of
900 btu/scf and
4$/MMBtu, the
value of gas flared
from these fields is
about 69 million
USD in 2010
Alternate(s)
• Flare is the last line of defence in a hydrocarbon facility and there are no direct
alternates available

• Flare reduction is possible by means of

• Instrumented protection systems (HIPPS)

• Better gas handling (Gas gathering and re-injection)

• Purge gas reduction

• Flare gas recovery

• Applying stringent policies
Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership

GGFR is a public-private partnership funded by World Bank. It was launched at the

World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 with a mission
to increase the use of associated gas thus by reducing gas flaring.
Partners
Algeria (Sonatrach), Angola (Sonangol), Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Cameroon (SNH), Canada (CIDA), Chad, Ecuador (PetroEcuador),
Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Khanty-Mansiysk (Russian Federation), Nigeria (NNPC), Norway,
Qatar, United Arab Emirates (Masdar Initiative), the United States (DOE) and Uzbekistan (Uzbekneftegaz); BP, Chevron,
ConocoPhillips, ENI, ExxonMobil, Marathon Oil, Maersk Oil & Gas, Shell, StatoilHydro, TOTAL, Qatar Petroleum; OPEC
Secretariat, European Union, the World Bank and the IFC

Mission
The GGFR partnership is a catalyst for reducing wasteful and undesirable practices of
gas flaring and venting through policy change, stakeholder facilitation and project
implementation.

Approach

GGFR partners have established a collaborative Global Standard for gas flaring
reduction. This Global Standard provides a framework for governments, companies,
and other key stakeholders to consult with each other, take collaborative actions,
expand project boundaries, and reduce barriers to associated gas utilization

Qatar Associated Gas Usage - Legislation

Exercise – Simple flare system
• Design flare system for the below plant
• Design the HP Flare system
• HP System Gas – 100 MMScfd
• Oil – 50,000 bbls
• Assume blocked discharge at
HP separator designed for 50
barg
• Assume 21 m pipe rack
• Size PSV, Tail pipe, sub-header
and main header
• Assume 0.5 mach for flare
header and 0.3 Mach for stack

• Locate and size the stack

considering 500 btu/ft2-h
radiation level at the plant edge
• Assume reasonable amount of bends and elbows in the flare pipe routing

• Use API 521 Brzustowski's and Sommer's Approach for flare stack sizing
Exercise – Simple flare system
Composition, Mole%
Component Vapour Phase Liquid Phase
Pseudo definitions
Nitrogen 0.7105 0.0062
H2S 0.1865 0.0358 Ideal liq
CO2 3.4330 0.2421 Normal Boiling Density
Component MW point Deg C kg/m3
Methane 75.4512 1.6974
AC7+ 108 113 759.2
Ethane 7.2581 0.8027
BC7+ 205 268 870.1
Propane 5.6614 2.1024
CC7+ 517 549 982.7
i-Butane 1.2882 1.1852
n-Butane 2.6190 3.3042
i-Pentane 0.9550 2.9776
n-Pentane 0.5528 2.2638
n-Hexane 0.4271 5.5199
AC7+* 0.5148 32.8189
BC7+* 0.0002 20.0009
CC7+* 0.0000 26.9738
H2O 0.9421 0.0691
Total 100.0000 100.0000

• Flarenet and Flaresim can be used

References

• API 520/521

• DEP 80.45.10.10 Pressure relief, emergency depressurizing,

flare and vent systems
Additional Slides
Qatar Associated Gas Usage - Legislation
The operator may:
· Lift, process, and market associated gas jointly with Qatar Petroleum (QP), the national oil company, subject to a negotiated
gas agreement
· Use associated gas in operations or reinject or flare gas, subject to relevant consents.
Priority is given to gas used to optimize oil production. QGPC is entitled to take, free of charge, associated gas that is not
marketed and that exceeds operational requirements at the separation point. The state may require the operator to install and
operate gathering and transportation
facilities to bring gas ashore. The operator is reimbursed for all costs, subject to separate agreement.

Permission to Flare
Permission to flare gas that cannot be marketed and that exceeds operational requirements is granted by the minister. Flaring
must be consistent with good petroleum industry practice.

Flaring Restrictions and Penalties

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture’s (MMAA) Environmental Protection Management Standards state that flares are
regulated at the permitting stage and must be smokeless and efficient so that ambient air quality criteria are not violated.
Flaring controls are stipulated in Attachment 8 of QGPC's Standards Manual. For onshore operations, flares should be of the
ground-level type and should be enclosed. All flares (onshore and offshore) should operate free of smoke except in emergency
conditions. Except for drilling operations, sour gas should not be burned in flares except in an emergency, and then, for limited
periods only. Attachment 8 also specifies that:
· Emissions during normal operations should be free from visible smoke, and emissions of acid soot should be prevented at all
times
· Emissions of hydrogen sulfide should not exceed 5mg/m3
· All emissions should be free from offensive odors
· Unconfined combustion is prohibited (for example, burn pits, refuse, or waste disposal).
The Standards Manual also stipulates emission monitoring requirements. For example, periods of smoky, high volume,
emergency, and salt gas flaring must be recorded in a log book, to be submitted to QGPC's Environmental Affairs Department
on a monthly basis.
Legislation
The following legislation is relevant to gas flaring and venting:
· Hydrocarbons legislation: Model Petroleum Contract 67
· Environnemental legislation: MMAA's Environnemental Protection Management Standards; QGPC’s Standards Manual
Regulating Agencies
· Ministry of Energy and Industry
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Flare Tips

Pipe Flare Coanda Flare Multi-nozzle sonic Flare

Acceptable radiation levels

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Design guidelines
Gas dispersion criteria
H2S less than 10 ppm
SO2 less than 5 ppm

Purge gas requirements:

Generally in the range of 0.5 to 1 ft/sec purge gas velocity

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