A gas flare or flare stack is an elevated vertical stack or chimney found on oil wells or oil rigs, and in refineries, chemical plants and landfills used for burning off unwanted gas or flammable gas and liquids released by pressure relief valves during unplanned over-pressuring of plant equipment. A chimney is a system for venting hot Flue gases or Smoke from a Boiler, Stove, Furnace or Fireplace to the outside An oil is a substance that is in a viscous Liquid state ( "oily") at ambient temperatures or slightly warmer and is West Texas PumpjackJPG|thumb|right|300px|This Pumpjack located south of Midland TX is a common sight in West Texas. For a detailed diagram of a Petroleum drilling rig, See Drilling rig (petroleum A drilling rig is a machine which creates holes (usually called An oil refinery is an industrial Process plant where Crude oil is processed and refined into more useful Petroleum products, such as Gasoline A chemical plant is industrial process plant that manufactures (or otherwise processes Chemicals usually on a large scale For other uses see Water treatment and Land reclamation. A landfill, also known as a dump (and historically as The relief valve is a type of Valve used to control or limit the Pressure in a system or vessel which can build up by a process upset instrument or equipment failure [1][2][3] In landfills, the primary purpose of this device is to vent and/or burn waste gas which results from the decomposition of materials in the dump. For other uses see Water treatment and Land reclamation. A landfill, also known as a dump (and historically as Natural gas is a Gaseous Fossil fuel consisting primarily of Methane but including significant quantities of Ethane, Propane,
Recently, under the Kyoto Treaty, some developing countries garbage collecting companies have received carbon bonus for installing burning chimneys for the methane gas produced at their landfills, preventing this way that methane reaches the atmosphere. The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the international Framework Convention on Climate Change with the objective of reducing Greenhouse gases in an effort After the burning, this gas is converted to heat, water and CO2, and according to the Third assessment report of the IPCC, as Methane is 23 times a more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2 the greenhouse effect is reduced in the same order. Greenhouse gases are gaseous constituents of the atmosphere bothnatural and anthropogenic that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of thermal infrared
On oil production rigs, in refineries and chemical plants, its primary purpose is to act as a safety device to protect vessels or pipes from over-pressuring due to unplanned upsets. For a detailed diagram of a Petroleum drilling rig, See Drilling rig (petroleum A drilling rig is a machine which creates holes (usually called An oil refinery is an industrial Process plant where Crude oil is processed and refined into more useful Petroleum products, such as Gasoline A chemical plant is industrial process plant that manufactures (or otherwise processes Chemicals usually on a large scale This acts just like the spout on a tea kettle when it starts whistling as the water in it starts boiling. A kettle is a Kitchenware piece Depending on culture and historical location in the context of bathware the word kettle can have a variety of meanings Whenever plant equipment items are over-pressured, the pressure relief valves on the equipment automatically releases gases (and sometimes liquids as well) which are routed through large piping runs called flare headers to the flare stacks. For other uses see Pipe. Within Industry, piping is a system of pipes used to convey Fluids ( Liquids and The released gases and/or liquids are burned as they exit the flare stacks. Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of Exothermic chemical reactions between a Fuel and an Oxidant accompanied by the production of The size and brightness of the resulting flame depends upon how much flammable material was released. Steam can be injected into the flame to reduce the formation of black smoke. The injected steam does however make the burning of gas sound louder, which can cause complaints from nearby residents. Compared to the emission of black smoke, it can be seen as a valid trade off. In more advanced flare tip designs, if the steam used is too wet it can freeze just below the tip, disrupting operations and causing the formation of large icicles. In order to keep the flare system functional, a small amount of gas is continuously burned, like a pilot light, so that the system is always ready for its primary purpose as an over-pressure safety system. A pilot light is a small Gas Flame, usually Natural gas or Liquefied petroleum gas, which is kept alight in order to serve as an ignition source The continuous gas source also helps diluted mixtures achieve complete combustion.
Some flares have been used to burn flammable "waste" gases or by-products that are not economical to retain. Over time, the industry is moving to flare-gas recovery systems to decrease waste and reduce emissions.
Flaring and venting of natural gas in oil wells is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas is a Gaseous Fossil fuel consisting primarily of Methane but including significant quantities of Ethane, Propane, Greenhouse gases are gaseous constituents of the atmosphere bothnatural and anthropogenic that absorb and emit radiation at specific wavelengths within the spectrum of thermal infrared Its contribution to greenhouse gases has declined by three-quarters in absolute terms since a peak in the 1970s of approximately 110 million metric tons/year and now accounts for about 1/2 of one percent of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. Anthropogenic effects processes objects or materials are those that are derived from Human activities as opposed to those occurring in Natural environments without Carbon dioxide ( Chemical formula:) is a Chemical compound composed of two Oxygen Atoms covalently bonded to a single [4] The World Bank estimates that over 100 billion cubic metres of natural gas are flared or vented annually, an amount worth approximately 30. The World Bank is an internationally supported Bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs (e 6 billion dollars, equivalent to the combined annual gas consumption of Germany and France, twice the annual gas consumption of Africa, three quarters of Russian gas exports, or enough to supply the entire world with gas for 20 days. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending This flaring is highly concentrated: 10 countries account for 75% of emissions, and twenty for 90%. [5] The largest flaring operations occur in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The Niger Delta, the delta of the Niger River in Nigeria, is a densely populated region sometimes called the Oil Rivers because it was once a Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal The leading contributors to gas flaring are (in declining order): Nigeria, Russia, Iran, Algeria, Mexico, Venezuela, Indonesia, and the United States. Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Algeria ( ar [[Arabic]] الجزائر, Al Jaza'ir ælʤæˈzæːʔir Amazigh: ⴷⵥⴰⵢⴻⵔ Dzayer) officially the People's The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Venezuela (ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə) officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is a country on the The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the [6] In spite of a ruling by the Federal High Court of Nigeria (that forbade flaring) in 2005, 43% of the of the gas retrieval was still being flared in 2006. It will be prohibited by law as of 2008.
Russia, signalling yet another step toward an eco-friendly economy, will stop the practice of gas flaring as stated by deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov on Wednesday September 19, 2007. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending gas flare or flare stack is an elevated vertical stack or Chimney found on Oil wells or oil rigs, and in refineries [7] This step was, at least in part, a response to a recent report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that concluded Russia's previous numbers may have been underestimated. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA) is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the The report, which used night time light pollution satellite imagery to estimate flaring, put the estimate for Russia at 50 billion cubic meters while the official numbers are 15 or 20 billion cubic meters. The number for Nigeria is 23 billion cubic meters. [8]
See also
- Flue gas stacks
- Relief valve
- Environmental issues in the Niger Delta (The Delta is one of the greatest gas flaring sites on Earth. A flue gas stack is a type of Chimney, a vertical pipe channel or similar structure through which Combustion product gases called Flue gases are exhausted The relief valve is a type of Valve used to control or limit the Pressure in a system or vessel which can build up by a process upset instrument or equipment failure Key environmental issues in the Niger Delta of Nigeria relate to its Oil industry. )
References
- ^ John J McKetta, Editor (1985). Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing and Design. Marcel Dekker, 144. ISBN 0-8247-2491-7.
- ^ Milton R. Beychok (2005). Fundamentals of Stack Gas Dispersion, Fourth edition, self-published. Fundamentals Of Stack Gas Dispersion is a book devoted to the basic fundamentals of Air pollution dispersion modeling of continuous buoyant pollution plumes ISBN 0-9644588-0-2. www.air-dispersion.com See Chapter 11, Flare Stack Plume Rise.
- ^ A Proposed Comprehensive Model for Elevated Flare Flames and Plumes, David Shore, Flaregas Corporation, AIChE 40th Loss Prevention Symposium, April 2006. The American Institute of Chemical Engineers ( AIChE) is a Professional organization for chemical engineers.
- ^ Global, Regional, and National CO2 Emissions. In Trends: A Compendium of Data on Global Change, Marland, G. , T. A. Boden, and R. J. Andres, 2005, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U. S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
- ^ The World Bank, Global Gas Flaring Reduction"
- ^ The Climate Law Organization, Friends of the Earth International.
- ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070919/sc_afp/russiaclimateenvironmentenergygas_070919174655
- ^ http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/06/21/russia_top_offender_in_gas_flare_emissions/ The Boston Globe: Russia top offender in gas-flare emissions