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The mechanical aspects for safe design and operation of flaring systems are defined for the first time publicly
Hydrocarbon processing facilities traditionally depend on a single flare system and flare burner for safe, efficient disposal of relief or waste gases. Consequently, optimal processing performance must be combined with a service life that is compatible with current long turnaround cycles.
The prime public information source for flare system design is the American Petroleum Institute (API) Recommended Practice 521 "Guide for Pressure-Relieving and Depressuring Systems," which addresses flare system design criteria. However, this standard does not provide guidance for mechanical details for such units.
Responding to an initiative from within its membership, the API Committee on Refining Equipment (CRE) formed a task force to develop a new guide that addresses flare mechanical details. This group was comprised of equipment owners and operators, designers and manufacturers of flare equipment, engineering and construction company representatives, and hydrocarbon process designers who undertook this grassroots effort. The task force worked together to share their expertise and knowledge of flaring equipment, and the consensus of this group yielded the recently published API Standard 537, "Flare Details for General Refinery and Petrochemical Service." This standard provides proven industry practices and details that can facilitate communications between purchasers and manufacturers.
BACKGROUND
Beginning in the late 1940s, hydrocarbon processing plant relief and other waste gas releases were converted from unburned vents to intentional burning flares. While some users and engineering companies developed their own limited guidelines for flares, no publicly available comprehensive guide on the design of flares or flare systems existed until the API published Recommended Practice 521, in 1969. Even in RP-521, flares are not the only subject covered and are one of many important relief system details. Most of the RP-521 coverage of flares is focused on process details and system safety; little information on mechanical issues is discussed.
RP-521 is currently in its fourth edition and work on a fifth edition is under way. The CRE's intent is that RP 521 and Standard 537 should be complementary documents - RP 521 dealing primarily with process and safety issues and Standard 537 addressing mechanical details.
Valuable information. The new standard is the first public comprehensive coverage of flare system components. Information...