AM-10-139 New Flare Technology Utilizing Low Pressure Steam

Description:

The American Petroleum Institute defines a flare to be a “device or system used to safely dispose of relief fluids in an environmentally compliant manner through the use of combustion1”. This is a very broad definition and includes small flow rates from leaking valves as well as massive flows due to major unit shutdown conditions. This being the case, flares can come in all shapes and sizes, but the most critical feature of the flare is its ability to efficiently burn a wide variety of flows and vapor compositions without experiencing stability issues. This means that the flare must be designed to handle typical flows as low as a few hundred pounds per hour, and still be able to operate effectively at mass flows in excess of one million pounds per hour.