C3H8+5O23CO2+4H2O.PDFVIP

13.5 Industrial Flares 13.5.1 General Flaring is a high-temperature oxidation process used to burn combustible components, mostly hydrocarbons, of waste gases from industrial operations. Natural gas, propane, ethylene, propylene, butadiene and butane constitute over 95 percent of the waste gases flared. In combustion, gaseous hydrocarbons react with atmospheric oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. In some waste gases, carbon monoxide (CO) is the major combustible component. Presented below, as an example, is the combustion reaction of propane. C H + 5 O 3 CO + 4 H O 3 8 2 2 2 During a combustion reaction, several intermediate products are formed, and eventually, most are converted to CO2 and water. Some quantities of stable intermediate products such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and hydrocarbons will escape as emissions. Flares are used extensively to dispose of (1) purged and wasted products from refineries, (2) unrecoverable gases emerging with oil from oil wells, (3) vented gases from blast furnaces, (4) unused gases from coke ovens, and (5) gaseous wastes from chemical industries. Gases flared from refineries, petroleum production, chemical industries, and to some extent, from coke ovens, are composed largely of low molecular weight hydrocarbons with high heating value. Blast furnace flare gases are largely of inert species and CO, with low heating value. Flares are also used for burning waste gases generated by sewage digesters, coal gasification, rocket engine testing, nuclear power plants with sodium/water heat exchangers, heavy water plants, and ammonia fertilizer plants. There are two types of flares, elevated and ground flares. Elevated flares, the more common type, have larger capacities than ground flares. In elevated flares