Smith & Burgess' Blog

Refinement of Disposal System Design Loads

Posted by Edgard Kurnia on Jan 11, 2019 9:59:15 AM
 

With more brownfield capital projects coming back to life many operating companies are mobilizing to increase their facility's charge rates.

If you are one of these companies looking for improvements, correctly evaluating your flare system's maximum capacity could "make or break" your project's feasibility studies.

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Topics: Overpressure Protection, Feasibility Studies, RAGAGEP, Flare Optimization, Quantitative Risk Assessment, QRA, Rate Increase, API 521, CAPEX, Disposal System Design, Dynamic System Modelling

Case Study: Elimination of a Remote Flare System

Posted by Dustin Smith, P.E. on Mar 4, 2018 5:09:00 PM

The Opportunity:

An offshore floating production facility was originally designed with two flares: one on a boom riser and the other remotely located. Due to the design, the remotely located flare required large amounts of gas to operate. The site was interested in reducing operational costs and emissions by consolidating the two flares into the flare on the boom riser, eliminating the remotely located flare. However, there were concerns with the feasibility of such a flare consolidation, the effects of thermal radiation, and the possibility that system changes would increase the backpressures on the relief devices. Smith & Burgess was hired to review this system.

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Topics: Flare Mitigation, Flare Analysis, Flare Study, Case Study, Flare System, Refinery, Engineering Review, Flare Header, Flare Management, Flare Optimization

Case Study: Flare Maintenance Operations

Posted by Dustin Smith, P.E. on Apr 17, 2017 5:08:00 PM

The Opportunity:

After a routine preventative maintenance inspection, a refinery found that a major flare header was in need of replacement. This header connected two large sections of the refinery, and the management feared that a majority of the facility would need to be shut down to safely replace the header. The site hired Smith & Burgess to perform a Flare Header QRA to determine the minimum amount of necessary shutdowns in order to safely perform the line replacement. The Flare Quantitative Risk Assessment used load probabilities to determine the likelihood of various events, should a power failure occur.

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Topics: Flare Mitigation, Flare Analysis, Flare Study, Case Study, Flare System, Refinery, Engineering Review, Flare Header, Flare Management, Flare Optimization, Engineering Standards, Quantitative Risk Assessment, QRA, Rate Increase

Case Study: Flare System Optimization I

Posted by Dustin Smith, P.E. on Feb 4, 2017 5:09:00 PM

The Opportunity:

A major United States refinery worked with an EPC on the site’s action items where they recommended a new flare worth approximately $30 Million. The refinery wanted a third-party review on the EPC’s recommendation and hired Smith & Burgess to verify their results.

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Topics: Action Item Resolution, Flare Study, Heat and Material Balance, Case Study, Flare System, Refinery, Flare Load Optimization, Flare Revalidation, Third Party Review, Flare Optimization, Overly Conservative Assumptions

Case Study: Flare System Velocity Concern Review

Posted by Dustin Smith, P.E. on Nov 16, 2016 5:07:00 PM

The Opportunity:

After reading about flare header failures due to high velocities, an owner of a production platform in the Middle East wanted to ensure that the initial inerting/purging of the platform and pipeline would not result in flare header piping failure. Smith & Burgess was hired to review the flare systems for safe operation under the high flow rates associated with the initial facility start-up.

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Topics: Flare Mitigation, Flare Analysis, Flare Study, Detailed Engineering, Case Study, Flare System, Engineering Review, Flare Management, Flare Optimization, Engineering Analysis, Rate Increase, API 521

Case Study: Flare System Optimization II

Posted by Dustin Smith, P.E. on Aug 9, 2016 5:07:00 PM

The Opportunity:

A major United States refinery was recommended by an EPC to install a new flare worth approximately $60 Million. Unsatisfied with the EPC's recommendations, the refinery asked Smith & Burgess to perform a third-party review to verify their results.

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Topics: Flare Mitigation, Flare Analysis, Flare Study, Case Study, Flare System, Refinery, Engineering Review, Flare Management, Flare Revalidation, Third Party Review, Flare Optimization, Overly Conservative Assumptions, Engineering Analysis

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