Flare Startup

[JimmyAli]

Greeting to all,

Soon we will commission our new flare system. The flare is designed by a vendor namely "Zeeko". The type of seal system is the velocity seal. Currently, we have already established our own procedure for commissioning and igniting the flare header. Nonetheless, I like to know your idea or suggestions on this matter based on your experience and knowledge.

Appreciate your positive respond,
JimmyAli

 

[dcasto]

I'd have a plan to inert the header with N2 first then when the headers have been purged, I'd inject fuel gas at the farthest which should have a perminate flow control system to gaurentee a flow, then inject fuel on the side lines to the header.

This is the outline, some varibles would be the need to sweep all side tap lines based on their volume. Also what type of ignition system the flare has would dictate what would happen if the tip got a "slug" of N2.

 

[JimmyAli]

Thanks dcasto for your super prompt respond.

Our preliminary procedure is to purge the flare with steam initially. Steam will be used since it is cheaper and available than N2. Moreover, any leaks in the flare header will be easily detectable via steam

 

[0707]

If it is a new flare piping system it is ok with steam.

If it is an existing flare piping system with a new tip, for safety reasons, dcasto procedure should be followed.

 

[dcasto]

The problem with steam is that it will condense to water and leave air behind, so you won't be able to get the air out until you heat the whole system up to over the boiling point of water. Then I would be concerned about thermal expansions with the large temperature rise.

We use N2 pump trucks to bring in 6000 gallons Liq N2 and the pump uses a pump and vaporizer. They can run hoses all over the place to get N2 to the different branches.