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Flares & Vents

Introduction
• The option to release gas to the atmosphere
by flaring and venting is an essential
practice in oil and gas production, primarily
for safety reasons.
• Flaring is the controlled burning
• Venting is the controlled release of
unburned gases directly into the
atmosphere.

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Introduction
• The availability of a flare or a vent ensures
that associated (natural) gas can be safely
disposed of in emergency and shutdown
situations.
• Where gas cannot be stored or used
commercially, the risk of fire and explosion
must be reduced by either flaring or
venting.

Introduction

• Flaring is a high-temperature oxidation

process.

• used to burn combustible components, like

hydrocarbons, of waste gases from
industrial operations.

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Introduction

• Natural gas, propane, ethylene, propylene,

butadiene and butane constitute over 95
percent of the waste gases flared.

Introduction

• In some cases, venting may be preferable to

flaring, depending on considerations such
as…

• local noise impacts,

• toxicity of gases being produced, and

• hydrocarbon content of the gas, etc.

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Flare Types

• Flares are generally categorized in two

ways:

• (1) by the height of the flare tip, and

• (2) by the method of enhancing mixing at

the flare tip

Flare Types
• Flares are generally categorized in two
ways:
• (1) by the height of the flare tip
– ground or
– elevated

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Flare Types
• Flares are generally categorized in two
ways:
• (2) by the method of enhancing mixing at
the flare tip
– steam-assisted,
– Air assisted,
– pressure-assisted, or
– non-assisted.

Flare Types
• (1) by the height of the flare tip …
• elevated and
• ground flares.

• Elevated flares, the more common type,

have larger capacities than ground flares.

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Flare Types

• Elevating the flare can prevent potentially

dangerous conditions at ground level where
the open flame (i.e., an ignition source) is
located near a process unit.

Flare Types

• Further, the products of combustion can be

dispersed above working areas to reduce the
effects of noise, heat, smoke, and
objectionable odors.

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Types: Elevated Flare

A waste gas stream is…

• fed through a stack anywhere from 10 to

over 100 meters tall and

• combusted at the tip of the stack.

• Flame is exposed to atmospheric

disturbances such as wind and precipitation.

Elevated flares

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Types: Ground Flare

• Combustion takes place at ground level.

• Vary in complexity, and

• May consist either of conventional flare

burners discharging horizontally with no

enclosures or of multiple burners in

refractory-lined steel enclosures.

Ground flares

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• In most flares, combustion occurs by means

of a diffusion flame.

• As in all combustion processes, an adequate

air supply and good mixing are required to
complete combustion and minimize smoke.

• The various flare designs differ primarily in

their accomplishment of mixing.

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Steam-Assisted Flares

• To ensure an adequate air supply and good

mixing, this type of flare system injects
steam into the combustion zone to promote
turbulence for mixing and to induce air into
the flame.

Steam-Assisted Flares

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Steam-Assisted Flares

Steam-Assisted Flares
• Steam-assisted flares are …
• single burner tips,
• elevated above ground level for safety
reasons,

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Steam-Assisted Flares

• burn the vented gas in essentially a

diffusion flame.

• They reportedly account for the majority of

the flares installed and

• are the predominant flare type found in

refineries and chemical plants.

Air-Assisted Flares

• Some flares use forced air to provide the

combustion air and the mixing required for
smokeless operation.

• These flares are built with a spider-shaped

burner (with many small gas orifices)

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Air-Assisted Flares

• Combustion air is provided by a fan in the

bottom of the cylinder.

• The amount of combustion air can be varied

by varying the fan speed.

Air-Assisted Flares

• The principal advantage of the air-assisted

flares is that they can be used where steam
is not available.

• Although air assist is not usually used on

large flares

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Air-Assisted Flares

Non-Assisted Flares

• The non-assisted flare is just a flare tip

without any auxiliary provision for
enhancing the mixing of air into its flame.

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Non-Assisted Flares

• Its use is limited essentially to gas streams

that have a low heat content and a low
carbon/hydrogen ratio that burn readily
without producing smoke.

Pressure-Assisted Flares

• Pressure-assisted flares use the vent stream

pressure to promote mixing at the burner
tip.

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Pressure-Assisted Flares

• If sufficient vent stream pressure is

available, these flares can be applied to
streams previously requiring steam or air
assist for smokeless operation.

Pressure-Assisted Flares

• Pressure-assisted flares generally (but not

ecessarily) have the burner arrangement at
ground level, and consequently, must be
located in a remote area of the plant where
there is plenty of space available.

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Enclosed Ground Flares

• An enclosed flare's burner heads are inside a

shell that is internally insulated.

• This shell reduces noise, luminosity, and

heat radiation and provides wind protection.

Enclosed Ground Flares

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Enclosed Ground Flares

Flare system

• The elements of an elevated steam-assisted

flare generally consist of …

• gas vent collection piping, utilities (fuel,

steam, and air), piping from the base up,

• knock-out drum, liquid seal, flare stack

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Flare system

• gas seal, burner tip, pilot burners, steam

jets, ignition system, controls, etc.

Flare system

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Flare system

• Burning occurs at the end of a flare stack or

boom.

• A complete flare system consists of…

• the flare stack or boom and

• pipes -which collect the gases to be flared.

Flare system

• The flare tip (at the end of

the stack or boom) -
designed to assist
entrainment of air into the
flare to improve burn
efficiency.

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Flare system

• Gas pilots and an ignitor - to ignite the

mixture of waste gas and air.

• Provision for external momentum force

(steam injection or forced air - if required) -
for smokeless flaring.

Flare system

• Seals – (installed in the stack)- prevent

flashback of the flame,

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Flare system

• Vessel – (at the base of the stack) - removes

and conserves any liquids from the gas
passing to the flare.

Flare system

• A flare is normally visible and generates

both noise and heat.

• generates water vapour and carbon dioxide.

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Flare system

• Efficient combustion depends on…

– good mixing between the fuel

gas and air, and

– the absence of liquids.

Flare system

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Flare system

Multi point Ground Flare system

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Types of Flare Systems

• Many flare systems have 2 flares, in parallel

or in series.

• Parallel: One flare can be shut down for

maintenance while the other serves the
system.

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Types of Flare Systems

Types of Flare Systems

• Series: One flare, usually at low-level

ground - intended to handle regular gas
volumes, and the other, an elevated flare, to
handle excess gas flows from emergencies.

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What is venting?
• Venting is normally not a visible process.
• It generate some noise, depending on the
pressure and flow rate of the vented gases.
• In some cases, venting is the best option for
disposal of the associated gas…
• High concentration of inert gas is present in
the associated gas.

Safety aspects

• A flare or a vent is absolutely necessary in

oil and gas production operations.

• It ensures safe disposal of the hydrocarbon

gas inventory is possible in emergency and
shutdown situations.

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• Emergency flares are normally fitted with

pilot systems maintaining a small flame as
the ignition source.

• Another safety issue in the application of

flaring and venting is the toxicity of the
gases being disposed. eg. Hydrogen sulfide

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