Flare Control Options Under the New Flare Regulations

Regulations requiring improved monitoring and control of flares at petroleum refineries are starting to be passed along to other manufacturing sectors. At refineries, flares are no required to maintain 270 Btu/scf in the combustion zone, which takes into account the amount of assist gas being provided to the flare. These regulations follow multiple U.S. EPA enforcement actions which alleged various refineries and petrochemical plants failed to adequately control their flare. This presentation will look at various flare control techniques which may be used to comply with the new flare operating requirements, as well as the unintended consequences of flare minimization which have contributed to the control challenges now facing industry.