Use of Variable Frequency Drives for Better Destruction Efficiency of Air-Assisted Flares

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Title Use of Variable Frequency Drives for Better Destruction Efficiency of Air-Assisted Flares
Creator Smith, Scot
Contributor Seefeldt, Greg
Date 2013-09-25
Spatial Coverage Kauai, Hawaii
Subject AFRC 2013 Industrial Combustion Symposium
Description Paper from the AFRC 2013 conference titled Use of Variable Frequency Drives for Better Destruction Efficiency of Air-Assisted Flares by Scot Smith
Abstract Many U.S. gas production, transportation, and processing facilities utilize air‐assisted flares to achieve smokeless combustion. Most of the installed base of air‐assisted flares use either a single‐speed or twospeed blower to control the air flowrate. During day‐to‐day operations, frequently these systems operate at full turndown with only purge gas going to the flare. Previous Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA) and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) testing provided limited results for hydrocarbon destruction efficiencies of air‐assisted flare tips at purge rates using gases that were representative of those used in a refinery or petrochemical plant application. Due to the recent increase in U.S. shale gas production, many wellhead, pipeline, and gas processing plants are being outfitted with air‐assisted flares to achieve smokeless flaring. These flares typically use a drilled spider flare tip design and burn gas cases that primarily consist of natural gas and/or propane. Some of these systems are being installed with variable frequency drives (VFD) for the blower speed control to facilitate better air volume control, though little data exists for establishing the proper operating ranges for the VFD driven blowers. Zeeco will discuss the results from our emissions testing of an air‐assisted flare design when burning natural gas and propane at turndown rates. In addition to destruction efficiency, this testing also compares the effectiveness when using single‐speed or two‐speed blowers versus VFD controlled blowers for air turndown. Recommended operating practices to ensure high destruction efficiency will also be provided.
Type Event
Format application/pdf
Rights NO copyright issues
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ARK ark:/87278/s68w6bh3
Setname uu_afrc
ID 14357
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s68w6bh3
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