DKK2483 - PLANT UTILITY

Chapter 8:
Water and Flare System

Prepared by;

Mohd Shafiq Mohd Sueb

+60122696177

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA PAHANG

Engineering . Technology. Creativity
Topics:
•Part I: Water System
–Introduction
–Water in Chemical Industry
–Water Impurities
–Fresh water applications in Oil and Gas Industry
•Part II: Flare System
–Introduction
–Elevated flare system
–Ground flare system
Topic outcomes:
Pat I : Water system
1. Describe the water sources and impurities
2. Explain & describe the use of water in the
industrial application
Part II: Flare system
3. Describe the basic concept of flare system
4. Describe the importance of flare system
Part 1: Water System
Hydrologic Cycle

•Evaporation under the influence of sunlight takes water from a liquid to

gaseous phase.
•The water may condense in clouds as the temperature drops in the
upper atmosphere.
•Wind transports the water over great distances before releasing it in
some form of precipitation.
•As the water condenses and falls to the ground, it absorbs gases from
the environment.
Introduction: Water use
• Purified feed water and process streams can be a critical
aspect of ensuring consistency in production and equipment
performance.
• Water is used for a wide variety of purposes in process
operations:
– reaction medium
– extraction processes
– steam stripping
– equipment washing
 • Dissolve compounds/
• Max cooling tower water
ingredients
recovery
• Dilution of concentrate
• Max return and reuse of non-
Process solution/ reactants
contact cooling water
• Washing of product at various
• Segregation of clean stream
stages
from wastewater flows
• Direct temperature control

Chemical
Water Process
Recycle Process Support
Industry

• Safety related activities – fire • Indirect cooling/ heating

protection, deluge system • Production of steam
• Maintenance and wash up • Equipment wash-up
Plant
• Employee potable use Services
Water Impurities
• Dissolved and suspended solids are present in most
surface waters.
– Seawater is very high in soluble sodium chloride (NaCl);
suspended sand and silt make it slightly cloudy
– Minerals can cause hardness (Ca2+ and Mg2+), color (iron),
contamination and radioavtivity in the water.
• Groundwater dissolves much material when it percolates
through soil formation dissolved minerals and salts.
Harder than surface water; contain more iron and
manganese. Less suspended impurities.
Common impurities found in fresh water
Common impurities found in fresh water
Common impurities found in fresh water
Common impurities found in fresh water
Deionized vs Distilled Water
  Demineralized/ deionized Distilled water
water
Treatment All treatment processes used to A liquid is heated to boiling, then
process remove dissolved solids from a the resulting water vapor is cooled
liquid, encompassing not just IX, in a condenser, and the purified
but filtration processes such as  liquid water is then captured in a
reverse osmosis (RO) and  sterile container.
Nanofiltration (NF) as well.

Water purity lower purity compared to distilled Higher purity than DI water
water
Operational Cost effective: Hi-cost:
cost requires minimal energy costs, requires significant energy
generally only to power pumps to expenses for heating, circulation,
circulate water, as well as and cooling.
chemical costs for
 resin regeneration.

Contaminant Highly effective for near total
removal removal of ionisable
substances/ /dissolved solid, but
not effective for removal of non-
ionic substances such as organic
or biological contaminants.
Capable of removing nearly all
contaminants, including ionic
organic or inorganic substances as
well as biological contaminants
Use of fresh water in association with oil and
gas activities
• As a supplemental fluid in enhanced recovery of
petroleum resources
• During drilling and completion of an oil or gas well
• during workover of an oil or gas well
• during solution of underground salt in brine mining or
hydrocarbon storage cavern creation;
• As gas plant cooling and boiler water;
• As hydrostatic test water for pipelines and tanks
• as coolant for internal combustion engines for rigs,
compressors, and other equipment;
• for sanitary purposes;
• for laboratory purposes.
Part 2: Flare System
What is flare system?
• A Flares are a key safety and environment management
tool used in refineries and petrochemical facilities. They
will safely burn flammable waste gases which cannot be
recovered or recycled in the processing plants and
therefore avoid the release of emissions and odours.
Types Flare System: Elevated Flare
Elevated flares - where the flare tip is approximately
30 metres above ground.
Types Flare System: Ground Flare
• Ground flares - where the flare tip is at ground level,
which is fenced off with heat shields to keep people
at a safe distance from the heat produced when the
flare is operating.
Uses of Flare System
Examples of when the flares need to be used include:
• Taking the process plants off line for maintenance
• Starting the process plants up following maintenance
• When safety shutdowns activate
• Purging of gases during plant operations
• Utility interruptions such as power failures.
How flare system works?
Impact of Flare System
The use of flares is minimised to the extent that is possible.
This is to reduce any impacts the flaring has on the
community and to maximise the efficiency of operations.
The flares can have the following impacts off site:
1. Light/Flames
2. Smoke
3. Noise
4. Emissions/odours.
Ways to minimise the flare impact
1. Carry out the flaring in daylight hours as much as possible
to minimise ‘out of hours’ impact
2. Limiting the size of flares for planned flaring
3. Rapid reduction of plant processing rates for significant
interruptions to operations such as power failures
4. Regular performance monitoring and reviews of flare
operation to improve.
Types of flares used in hydrocarbon and
petrochemical industries
1. Single point flare
2. Multi-point flare
3. Enclosed flare
Single point flare
1. Oriented to fire upward, with the discharge point elevated
above the surrounding grade and nearby equipment.
2. Most common type of flare for onshore refining facilities
operate at low pressure (<10psig)
Multi point flare
Multi point flare are used to achieved improved burning by
routing the gas stream to many burning points.
Enclosed flare

1. Enclosed flare conceal the flame

form direct view
2. Enclosed flare reduce noise and
thermal radiation to the
surrounding.
THE END