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EVALUATION OF THE EFFICIENCY OF INDUSTRIAL FLARES: INFLUENCE OF GAS COMPOSITION
Citation:
Soelberg, N. R. EVALUATION OF THE EFFICIENCY OF INDUSTRIAL FLARES: INFLUENCE OF GAS COMPOSITION. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-99/062 (NTIS PB99-156382), 1999.
Description:
The report gives results of a pilot-scale evaluation of the efficiency of industrial flares. The work (1) evaluated the effects of additional gas mixtures on flare stability and efficiency with and without pilot assist and (2) correlated flame stability for the different gas mixtures that have been tested. Tests were conducted for flare gases containing carbon dioxide (CO2) as a diluent, methyl chloride mixtures, and toluene mixtures, with and without natural gas pilot assist. All tests were conducted using a 3 in. open pipe nozzle without aerodynamic stabilization. Results of the evaluation included: (1) flare gases containing CO2 as a diluent required higher heating values to maintain stability than did nitrogen (N2)-diluted gases in close proportion to the difference in heat capacity of the mixtures; (2) flame stability for unassisted methyl chloride/propane/N2 gas mixtures above a minimum heating value depended on the hydrogen/chlorine molar ratio of the flare gas; and (3) combustion and destruction efficiencies exceeded 98% for all mixtures and gas species tested when the degree of stability was at least 1.2 (1.5 for toluene destruction efficiency) times the minimum required for stability. Both efficiencies decreased to 90% or less when the stability ratio decreased below 1.0.