Ris2,
I have never done the calcs, but I believe a few things determine the flare purge rate:
1. The rate should be sufficient to account for a rapid cooling of the flare header. If the purge is not sufficient then you can loss your DP to the surroundings leading to possible contamination or O2 in the header. You have to remember that you are dealing with gases that can be entering the header very hot and subject to cooling over time.
2. The rate should also be high enough to keep O2 for backing in the tip by diffusion. Molecular seal are sometimes used to lower the required purge.
The tip is generally sized to give sonic flow at a desired capacity. I am not aware of a direct relationship between the two.
Regards,
Matt