FLARE SYSTEM – FLARE PROCESS, FLARE DRUMS & FLARE SEALS

Oil and Gas industry, petrochemical processing plants generate significant amount of waste products
such as methane, volatile organic compounds, Sulphur related compounds etc. These waste
compounds are toxic, flammable and corrosive and in many instances cannot be directly discharged
to the atmosphere because of reasons listed below.

1. Restrictions imposed by local ordinance or plant practices.

2. Because of lesser permissible explosion or toxic threshold limit at a particular surrounding for
local vents in plant.

3. In processes where long and severe waste exhaust temperature is anticipated, the gases
cannot be vented locally because of hazardous condition.

“Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are organic chemical that have a high vapor pressure at room
temperature”.

In such cases burning this excess hydrocarbon gas is a batter option. For e.g., instead of venting
methane to atmosphere we can burn methane which will produce carbon dioxide. It is batter because
methane is 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide towards global warming.

The process of safely burning these waste gases is called flaring. The system that deals with the process
and components required to burn the discharge gases in a flare, all the way from blowdown pressure
relief devices is flare system.

The process of safely burning these waste gases is called flaring. The system that deals with the process
and components required to burn the discharge gases in a flare, all the way from blowdown pressure
relief devices is flare system.

Flare systems are also designed to relieve emergency process upsets that require release of large
volume of gas. Flare systems are currently operated with gas recovery system where the voc gases are
recovered and compressed to be used in further processes as a livestock or fuel. When the baseload
recovery system is used, the flare (burning of waste gases) is used as a backup and only for emergency
releases.

Below animation shows the basic process flow for a flare system. Each element is briefly discussed
afterwards.

Basic Flare Process

Flare gas transportation piping-

Waste gases from vents, blowdown gases released from pressure relief devices, are sent to the flare
stack through the gas collection header. This piping should be designed to have minimum pressure
drop. Potential dead legs and liquid traps are avoided. Use of valves in this line should be kept to
minimum and when used should be car sealed to open position. The piping should be equipped for
purging so that explosive mixtures do not occur in the flare system either on start-up or during
operation. Minimum slope of the flare header shall be 1 :450 (per API 521).

Vessels & Drums used in flare system:

Four types of vessels or drums are typically used in the design of flare systems for specific reasons:
those are (a)Knockout drum (b) Blowdown drum (c) Quench drum (d) Seal drum

Knockout drum-

Liquids in the vent system is not desired because of two reasons-

(1) liquid in the event stream can extinguish flame or cause irregular combustion and smoking.

(2) Flaring of liquids can generate a spray of burning chemicals that could reach ground level and
create a safety hazard.

Liquids present in the vent stream or the liquid that may be condense out in the collection header and
transfer lines are removed by the knockout drum. The knockout drum may either be horizontal or
vertical type. A schematic for knockout drum is presented below

knock out drum schematic

Below is an animation of how a knockout drum works. The two-phase fluid enters the knockout drum.
The gas and fluid separate partly first after hitting the deflector plate and for those fluids that still
settles at bottom, the gas comes up due to gravity.

A knockout drum is required where enough hydrocarbon liquids are entrained with or condensed from
the gas to avoid possible fire hazards from liquid droplets falling out of the flare. The function of the
knockout drum(s) may be combined with that of the blowdown drum to provide a single drum, where
small quantities of liquid are involved.

The knockout drums may be either horizontal or vertical. Horizontal drums are more common for large
relief loads for the following reasons:

(1) The required elevation of the relief header is lower than for a vertical drum.
(2) The horizontal drum would cost less than the vertical drum which has equivalent capacity.

Location of knockout drum is at or close to the flare base, sometime the vertical vessel is located inside
the base of flare stack. For this reason, consider the amounts of liquid that may be required to flow
though the gas flare header if local or area blowdown drums are not used. The liquid material collected
in the knockout drum is usually pumped back to the slop tanks.

Blowdown drum-

Blowdown drum is used when sizable liquid releases from the process is required to be captured. The
releases may be intentional like drainage from liquid drain system during shutdown or start up or
emergency events like a PSV discharge. The drum must be capable of accepting the anticipated liquid
loads without filling beyond the maximum operating level of the drum. This maximum operating level
must still provide a gas flow path with sufficiently low gas velocity to allow gravity separation and
prevent re-entrainment beyond the design droplet size. Blowdown drums tend to be located near the
sources, close to the battery limits of a process unit or area to reduce the amount of piping subject to
two phase slug flow. It is not a good practice to design for significant amounts of liquid to run long
distances through the plant in the vapor flare header. A sketch of a typical horizontal blowdown drum
is provided below.

Blowdown drum schematic

Where the liquid flow quantities anticipated are relatively low, a knockout drum will be sufficient, and
a blowdown drum may not be required. Blowdown drums may be advantageous, even for relatively
low liquid flow quantities for the following services:

1. To collect highly viscous liquids in a relatively small vessel so that the relief header will not
become fouled or plugged and the main knockout drum need not be designed to handle this
liquid.

2. To collect liquids which should not be mixed with other streams due to economic
consideration or corrosion potential.
 3. To collect liquids within process areas where continuous sloping of the headers toward the
main knockout drum is not feasible.

Blowdown drums can be configured as horizontal or vertical similar to knockout drum. And horizontal
types are more preferred due to same reasons as stated in knockout section.

Where several process units or areas use a common blowdown drum, a combined dedicated liquid
relief header from these areas to the blowdown drum should be provided. The separated vapor can
then be combined with the vapor relief header. The refinery liquid drain system(s) usually flows to
blow down drum.

The horizontal blowdown drum should be sloped 0.33 in per 3.3 ft (0.83 cm per meter) towards the
liquid outlet nozzle. A water boot may be required at the bottom of the horizontal drum to remove
separated water from the liquid hydrocarbons. The liquid material is usually disposed of to the slop
tanks following weathering or directly to refinery process unit. The inlet or outlet nozzles may be
installed at an angle from the vertical if the elevation of the flare header is otherwise too low with
respect to the blowdown drum inlet nozzles.

Quench drum-

quench drum schematic

A quench drum can be used to condense the

vapor discharge from a relief device for
either later return into the process after the
relieving condition has passed or for disposal
to the sewer. Generally, a quench drum is
provided whenever the material being
relieved is too valuable to be burned in a flare
or too toxic to be relieved to atmosphere in
a vent stack. Also, a quench drum can be
used to cool hot material so that the entire
relief system does not need to be designed
for the higher temperature. A third purpose
for a quench drum is to quench runaway
reactions. A typical schematic for quench
drum is presented below.

Seals used in flare system:

A flare system is subject to explosion hazards

when air is present in the system. Factors
which contribute to air flow into the system
are:

(1) thermal contraction of hot gases in the system when flaring stops- When flaring stops, the hot gas
cools rapidly and the contracting gas creates a low-pressure zone permitting the influx of air. Rainfall
greatly accelerates cooling.

(2) oscillation caused by rapid closure of a spring-operated safety relief valve- Oscillation is caused by
the rapid closure of a spring-operated safety relief valve. The column of gas in the header continues
to travel under its own momentum and creates a low-pressure zone behind it. As the column recedes,
air is drawn into the stack.

(3) velocity of air passing over the top of a stack- Wind over the top of a stack increases air flow with
a resultant drop in pressure, which causes gas to be drawn from the stack. Air flows in to replace the
gas at a rate that increases with higher wind velocities.

Gas seals for flare system-

Gas seals should be provided on all flares. Gas seal types can be divided into two categories:

Baffle type gas seal-

are known by numerous other vendor specific names such as Integral velocity seals, Airrestor,
Reactive, Orifice, Integral Type seals.

Baffle type gas seal

This seal allows flow in one direction with little resistance. However, reversal of flow results in very
high resistance. This means that gas can flow out of the flare stack but the counter flow of air back
into the stack is greatly restricted. The baffle type of gas seal consists of a series of fixed baffles, shaped
like open-ended cones, mounted within a flare tip. Each succeeding baffle of the seal encountered by
purge gas traveling up the stack has a larger aperture than that below it. Air attempting to enter the
stack is turned back against itself by the first baffle. Each succeeding baffle, with its progressively
smaller aperture, further reduces the flow of air.

Labyrinth type gas seal-

Labyrinth type which is know under various trade names including “FX Series Seal” and “Molecular
Seal”.
 Molecular gas seal

Above figure shows a labyrinth type of seal and its cut-away view. This seal is installed below the flare
tip and connected to both the stack and the tip through flanged joints. The labyrinth seal hinders the
flow of air into the stack whether the stack gas is lighter or heavier than air. Assuming no purge gas is
used and the gas in the stack is lighter than air, the atmospheric air enters zone A due to gravity.
However, the air is trapped in Zone B because it is heavier than the gas in this region. Atmospheric air
can penetrate Zone B only through molecular diffusion. If the gas in the stack is heavier than air, the
atmospheric air cannot penetrate Zone A due to its gravity, except by molecular diffusion. Because it
functions on the basis of molecular weights different from air (heavier and lighter), this type seal is
frequently referred to as a “Mole Seal”.

The water drain from the labyrinth seal must be looped at grade to provide a 10 feet (3 meters) seal
or two times the maximum operating pressure at the base of the stack, whichever is greater. The drain
is piped to the knockout drum. A water supply must be available to maintain the water seal level.

In general, the baffle seal costs less than the labyrinth seal because of its simple construction and light
weight. Less structural support is required for the baffle seal than for the labyrinth seal.

A water seal in a drum is to be provided near the stack or at its base and is to be used in combination
with a gas seal just below the stack tip. The gas seal reduces the quantity of purge gas required. Purge
gas is required for all systems. In addition, a liquid seal, flame arrestor, or gas seal must be provided.

water seals for flare system

Seal drum-

Seal drums are used to provide a positive seal thus preventing ingression of atmosphere air from flare
stack to the flare header. The reason for this seal is to prevent, as much as possible, the development
of a combustible air/hydrocarbon mixture and thus prevent flashback in the flare system.

Water seal drums serve as backup to the purge gas system. However, they may also be used to divert
flow during normal plant operation to a vapor recovery system or small relief flows to a ground flare.
Any larger streams would discharge to an elevated flare with purge gas being introduced downstream
of the water seal drum.

The water seal drum is often a vertical vessel installed at the base of a flare stack. In this instance, the
drum also provides structural support for the flare stack. The water seal may also be provided in a
vertical or horizontal drum separate from the flare stack or ground flare. The decision to select a
horizontal or vertical seal drum should be made on the basis of the total installed cost. Large drum
diameters will lead to the need for field fabrication.

• Horizontal water seal drum

• Above figure shows a vertical water seal drum. The water level in the drum is maintained by
a constant supply of water. The relief gas inlet pipe is projected into the drum and immersed
in the water to form a positive seal. Water from the drum is normally discharged to the oily
water sewer system The drum may require provisions for skimming hydrocarbon liquids from
the surface of the water. Removal can be either on a continuous or an intermittent basis.
Ground flare

A ground flare is where the combustion takes place at ground level. It varies in complexity and may
consist either of conventional flare burners discharging horizontally with no enclosure or of multiple
burners in refractory-lined steel enclosures. Ground flare is the preferred choice only if a plant is
located in an area where it is highly desirable to have a flare which is not visible to the public.

Ground flare are mostly of two types – open ground flare and enclosed ground flare.

Open ground flares

Open ground flare

Here flare headers distribute and the flaring occurs at ground, with the area surrounded by radiation
fences. Most have multiple burners that combine to flare large amounts of gas. The burners are
located either in a refractory lined enclosure or in an open pit. Some open pit ground flare also utilizes
either a series of burners standpipe-mounted on underground pipe manifolds. open ground flare can
combust larger quantity than enclosed flares. Another type of ground flare is the horizontal flare which
is located in an open pit.

Enclosed ground flares

Enclosed ground flares

Enclosed ground flares are the most practical ground flare type for industries located in the city areas.
While they are expensive, they provide a means of smokeless combustion without a flame visible to
the surrounding area. Hot combustion gases from an enclosed ground flare are discharged to the
atmosphere through an opening at the top of the refractory-lined enclosure.

Type. enclosed ground flare

A typical enclosed ground flare installation is shown in above figure . Vapor loads normally pass
through the low-pressure seal and to the enclosed ground flare where multiple small burners are used
to combust the vapors. These burners are divided into groups which are activated (staged) via control
valves, with additional stages opening as header pressure increases. Since only the first group (stage)
of burners is operating continuously, purge requirements for enclosed ground flares are based on
maintaining a required flow through those burners only. When a major upset occurs, pressure rises in
the header to the point where flow passes through the liquid seal to the emergency elevated flare
which is sized to handle the worst-case flaring contingency.

Enclosed flare systems come in both natural and forced-draft types. Usually, the combustion chamber
is a steel structure lined with refractory material. Most of the units are temperature-controlled with
sample ports available for measurements.

Elevated and ground flares used at sites can be further classified into two types: single-point and multi-
point flares. Single-point flares are typically oriented to fire upwards. Single-point flares can be
smokeless or non-smokeless using air-assisted or steam-assisted designs, and are suitable for low-
pressure applications. Multi-point flares are designed for higher-pressure applications and where
smokeless burning is required. Multi-point flares are used to improve the burning by applying multiple
burning points. These can be located on the ground level or at an altitude using boom supports.

Elevated flares
For safety reasons it’s a advantage to have flares at considerable height from ground. Elevated flares
are preferred over enclosed ground flares due to lower costs. Elevated flares are also preferred over
open pit ground flares due to lower land requirements.

Type of flare supports

Elevated flares for onshore facilities can be supported in three ways as mentioned below

Flare support type for onshore facilities

Self-supported flares

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.
derrick supported flares

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.

Guyed stack flare

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.

The structural support systems for elevated flares in offshore facilities are the boom-supported and
derrick-supported. The flare may be either vertical or inclined. The boom is an inclined support
structure consisting of tie rods and guides.

Flare support type for offshore facilities

Type of flare based on mixing at flare tip

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. Based on the method of enhancing mixing at the flare tip, the flares can be categorized into
four types as stated below:

Steam-assisted flares
Steam-assisted flares are single burner tips, elevated above ground level for safety reasons, that 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. Steam assisted
flares are designed to dispose of heavier waste gases which have a greater tendency to smoke. In
order to prevent incomplete combustion, steam is injected into the waste stream using peripheral
steam rings (Primary steam) at top of tip and at center of flare tip (Secondary steam). High-pressure
steam flow causes turbulence in the waste stream which improves mixing and therefore improves
combustion efficiency. Additional air is induced into the waste gas providing the oxygen necessary for
augmented smokeless capacity. Steam flares are typically used in applications where the customer
has high-pressures team available onsite.

Air-Assisted Flares

Some flares use forced air to provide the combustion air and the mixing required for smokeless
operation. Air Assist Flares dispose of heavier waste gases which have greater tendency to smoke.
Air Assist Flares can be employed at sites where steam may not be available. Air assisted flare
systems are composed of two concentric risers and one or more blowers providing supplemental
combustion air. A blower forces air into an outer air annulus where the process gas passes through
an inner riser and upon reaching the flare tip, these two streams intermix. This air assist has three
principal effects: High-pressure airflow causes turbulence in the waste stream which improves
mixing and therefore enhances combustion efficiency. Additional air is induced into the waste gas
providing the oxygen necessary for augmented smokeless capacity. Constant airflow creates a
cooling effect for extended flare tip service life. The amount of combustion air can be varied by
varying the fan speed.
Pressure-Assisted Flares

Pressure-assisted flares use the vent stream pressure

to promote mixing at the burner tip. 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 generally
(but not necessarily) 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. They have multiple burner heads that are
staged to operate based on the quantity of gas being
released. The size, design, number, and group
arrangement of the burner heads depend on the vent
gas characteristics. Below are some types of pressure
assisted flare

•
 •

•
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. 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. These streams require less air for
complete combustion, have lower combustion temperatures that minimize cracking reactions, and
are more resistant to cracking.

Types of flare tip

Flare tips are normally proprietary in design and always evolving so it’s hard to categorize all of them
effectively, still some designs are used extensively. Some of which are discussed below.
Open pipe flare tip

This is the simplest type of flare tip consisting of a cylindrical fabrication from which the gas exists, it
has a flange at its lower end that in turns connect with the flare riser pipe flange. This design
although are very robust and reliable, they are used where smoke is allowed or the gases to be flare
do not produce smoke such as methane, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide.

The main body of open

pipe flare tip consists of a
single pipe, wind
deflectors, and flame
stabilizers. A purge
reduction seal is also
included just above the
main gas inlet flange and
presents a physical barrier
to back-flow of air at the
inner tip wall.

Continuously operating
pilot burners are attached to the periphery of the flare tip to ignite the flared gas.

Open pipe flare tip can be used with steam injection, which reduces the smoke emission and radiation
levels or it can be used with high pressure gas injection which improves the air gas mixing at the root
of the flame.it is also possible to combine high pressure gas injection and water or steam injection in
a single pipe flare tip to further reduce thermal radiation levels.

Air assisted flare tip

This tip achieves clean

combustion through the
injection of primary air into the
base of the flame with the help
of an electrically driven
fan/blower located at grade.
Combustion efficiency of flared
gas is increased by installing air
blower which will reduce
smoke formation. Air assisted
flare tip incorporates a design
that splits the waste gas stream into several smaller streams at the top of the flare to increase the gas
/ air contact surface area and promote better mixing. Forced air from the blowers and gas from the
flare header are routed separately from the base of the flare stack to the top of the flare. At no point
do the air and gas mix prior to leaving the flare tip, ensuring the safety of the system. These flares are
limited in the relief duty which can be handled, because of air mixing and stack diameter limitations.
Below is a short video of an installation with air assisted flare tip during operation.

Multi tip flares

Instead of a single burner (e.g. as in open pipe flare tip) the use of multiple, small diameter burners
provides improved mixing by splitting the gas and air into smaller units. This improved mixing reduces
the mixing path and results in a shorter, broader, flame. The more efficient combustion of multiple
tips results in lower smoke emissions and radiation levels than a comparable single tip. This also
reduces platform radiation levels and the length of the flare supporting structure.

Multi tip flare

These kinds of flares are used for HP

flare application. The main body
consists of a central pipe with a
number of sonic discharge arms
usually between 4, 6 or 8. Each arm
has a sonic discharge nozzle fitted.
The nozzles provide reliable
stabilization of the flame at all flows
and also ensure efficient operation,
reliable flame ignition and elimination
of flame lift at high gas discharge
velocities and high winds. The nozzles have a series of lugs behind which a number of gas bleed holes
are drilled. This allows some of the gas to escape the nozzle and effectively multiplies the pilot heating
power considerably and greatly contributes to flame stability across all operating and atmospheric
conditions.

The flare tip is normally fitted with pilots manufactured in heat resistant steel, incorporating a nozzle
designed for maximum pilot flame stability, an inspirator (air drawing device) assembly for regulating
the air and gas mixture to the pilot and the igniter which fits into the nozzle directly. Below is a short
video of an installation with multi point flare tip during operation.