Gas flare

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A flare gas , otherwise known as flare stack , is a gas burning device used in industrial plants such as petroleum refineries, chemical plants, natural gas processing plants and on site production of oil or gas having oil wells, gas wells, offshore oil and gas rigs and landfills.

In industrial plants, flue chimneys are primarily used to burn flammable gases released by pressure-relief valves during over-pressuring of unplanned plant equipment. During factory or partial startup and shutdowns, flare stack is also often used for planned gas burning in a relatively short period of time.

Gas combustion in many oil and gas production locations protects against the hazards of overly pressing industrial equipment. When petroleum crude oil is extracted and produced from offshore or offshore oil wells, raw natural gas associated with oil is brought to the surface as well. Especially in areas of the world that lack pipelines and other gas transportation infrastructure, large amounts of such related gas are generally burned as waste or unusable gas. The associated gas combustion may occur at the top of the vertical flange stack (as in adjacent photographs) or may occur in a ground surface flare in the earthhole. Preferably, the associated gas is injected back into the reservoir, which stores it for future use while maintaining higher well pressures and crude oil production.

Video Gas flare

The overall beacon system in an industrial plant

When industrial factory equipment is over-pressed, the pressure relief valve is an important safety device that automatically releases gas and sometimes liquids. Such pressure relief valves are required by industry design codes and standards as well as by law.

The gas and liquid released are channeled through a large piping system called flare headers to the vertical upright flare. The released gas is burned when they exit the pile of flare. The size and brightness generated depends on the rate of flow of combustible material in joules per hour (or btu per hour).

Most industrial flare plants have a liquid-steam separator (also known as a knockout drum) in the upper flares to eliminate the large amount of fluid that may accompany the relieved gases.

Steam is very often injected into a flame to reduce the formation of black smoke. When too much steam is added, a condition known as "over steaming" can occur that results in reduced burning efficiency and higher emissions. In order for the flare system to function, a small amount of gas continues to be burned, such as pilot light, so that the system is always ready for its primary purpose as an excess pressure security system.

The adjacent flow chart illustrates the distinctive components of the overall industrial flare system:

• Knockout drum to remove oil or water from a relieved gas.
• Drum water seal to prevent flashes of flame from above the flare stack.
• Alternative gas recovery system to be used during startup and partial plant shutdown as well as any other time when needed. Recovered gas is fed to the gas fuel system of the whole industrial plant.
• Steam injection system to provide external momentum power used for efficient air mixing with released gases, which encourages smokeless combustion.
• The pilot fire (with its ignition system) that burns all the time so that it is available to light the relief gas when needed.
• Stack the flare, including the flashback prevention section at the top of the stack.

Maps Gas flare

The impact of associated gas combustion waste from oil drilling sites and other facilities

Flares that are not properly operated can release methane and other volatile organic compounds such as sulfur dioxide and other sulfur compounds, which are known to aggravate asthma and other respiratory problems. Other emissions of flares not properly operated may include, aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, xylene) and benzapyrene, which are known to be carcinogenic.

Burning can affect wildlife by attracting birds and insects to a flame. About 7,500 migratory singers were attracted and killed by a flare at the liquefied natural gas terminal in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada on September 13, 2013. Similar incidents occurred in flares in offshore oil and gas installations. Moths are known to be attracted to light. The brochure published by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity describing the Global Taxonomy Initiative describes a situation in which "a taxonomist working in a tropical forest notices that flare gas in an oil refinery attracts and kills hundreds of these [eagles], or moths. months and years that the refinery runs a large number of moths must have been killed, indicating that the plant can not be pollinated in large forest areas. "

By the end of 2011, 150 ÃÆ'â € "10 ⁹ cubic meters (5.3 ÃÆ'â €" 10 ¹² cubic feet) of related gas burned each year. That equates to about 25 percent of annual natural gas consumption in the United States or about 30 percent of annual gas consumption in the EU. If it wants to reach the market, this gas quantity (with a nominal value of $ 5.62 per 1,000 cubic feet) will be worth $ 29.8 billion USD.

Also by the end of 2011, 10 countries accounted for 72 percent of burning, and twenty to 86 percent. The top 10 major contributors to global gas combustion by the end of 2011 are: (in decreasing order): Russia (27%), Nigeria (11%), Iran (8%), Iraq (7%), United States (5%) , Algeria (4%), Kazakhstan (3%), Angola (3%), Saudi Arabia (3%) and Venezuela (3%).

The amount of combustion and associated gas combustion from oil drilling locations is a significant source of carbon dioxide emissions (CO ₂ ). Coupled with the burning of fossil fuels and cement production, the burning carbon dioxide emissions in 2010 have tripled (1300 Ã, Â ± 110 GtCO2) compared to the last recording (1750-1970, 420 Ã, Â ± 35 GtCO has been emitted.) 2400 ÃÆ'â € "10 ⁶ tons of carbon dioxide are emitted annually in this way and account for about 1.2 percent of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. That may seem insignificant, but in that perspective, more than half of the Certified Emission Reduction (a kind of carbon credits) has been issued under the rules and mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol as of June 2011.

Satellite data show that from 2005 to 2010, global burning gas flares decreased by about 20%. The most significant reductions in terms of volume were made in Russia (down 40%) and Nigeria (down 29%).

The Obama administration imposed rules to limit arson, and then the Trump Administration sought to delay the adoption of the rules. In October 2017 federal magistrate judges vacated the Department of Home Affairs steps to delay implementation.

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Environmental benefits

Estimated potential for global warming is estimated Methane is 104 times greater than CO ₂ . Therefore, as far as gas flares convert methane into CO ₂ before being released into the atmosphere, they reduce the amount of global warming that will occur.

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See also

• Slaughter heap
• Environmental issues in the Niger Delta
• Flue gas stack
• Fugitive emissions
• Release valve

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References

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Further reading

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Media

Source of the article : Wikipedia