Water and Flare System
Hydrologic Cycle
Evaporation under the influence of sunlight takes water from a liquid to gaseous phase.
The water may condense in clouds as the temperature drops in the upper atmosphere.
Wind transports the water over great distances before releasing it in some form of precipitation.
As the water condenses and falls to the ground, it absorbs gases from the environment.
Introduction: Water use
Purified feed water and process streams can be a critical aspect of ensuring consistency in production and equipment performance.
Water is used for a wide variety of purposes in process operations:
extraction processes
steam stripping
reaction medium
equipment washing
Chemical Process Industry
Process Support
Plant Services
Process
Water Recycle
Dissolve compounds/ ingredients
Dilution of concentrate solution/ reactants
Washing of product at various stages
Direct temperature control
Indirect cooling/ heating
Production of steam
Equipment wash-up
Safety related activities – fire protection, deluge system
Maintenance and wash up
Employee potable use
Max cooling tower water recovery
Max return and reuse of non-contact cooling water
Segregation of clean stream from wastewater flows
Water Impurities
Dissolved and suspended solids are present in most surface waters.
Groundwater dissolves much material when it percolates through soil formation dissolved minerals and salts.
Use of fresh water in association with oil and gas activities
As gas plant cooling and boiler water;
As hydrostatic test water for pipelines and tanks
during workover of an oil or gas well
for sanitary purposes;
for laboratory purposes.
What is flare system?
A Flares are a key safety and environment management tool used in refineries and petrochemical facilities.
They will safely burn flammable waste gases which cannot be recovered or recycled in the processing plants and therefore avoid the release of emissions and odours.
Types Flare System:
Elevated Flare
Ground Flare
where the flare tip is approximately 30 metres above ground.
where the flare tip is at ground level, which is fenced off with heat shields to keep people at a safe distance from the heat produced when the flare is operating.
Uses of Flare System
Examples of when the flares need to be used include:
Taking the process plants off line for maintenance
Starting the process plants up following maintenance
When safety shutdowns activate
Purging of gases during plant operations
Utility interruptions such as power failures.
Impact of Flare System
The flares can have the following impacts off site:
Emissions/odours.
Noise
Smoke
Light/Flames
Ways to minimise the flare impact
Carry out the flaring in daylight hours as much as possible to minimise ‘out of hours’ impact
Limiting the size of flares for planned flaring
Rapid reduction of plant processing rates for significant interruptions to operations such as power failures
Regular performance monitoring and reviews of flare operation to improve.
Types of flares used in hydrocarbon and petrochemical industries
Single point flare
Multi-point flare
Enclosed flare
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