Torch smoking issue
Thread Content
Many of the units in our plant are shut down for maintenance, so the dry gas that used to be burned in our units is no longer being used. A portion of the dry gas from our units is sent to flares; today, these flares suddenly started emitting smoke in bursts (sometimes there’s almost no smoke at all, and other times there’s a sudden burst of smoke). We’ve been checking this issue for a whole day without figuring out what’s causing it – we’ve checked everything that needed to be checked. I would appreciate it if experts could help analyze this situation.
There might be a valve leaking air to the torch; check it
Check if your control valves are working properly, and see if the steam supply is stable :)
The torch smoking is due to improper adjustment of the atomized steam; make sure to adjust it frequently.
Is there smoke coming from the low-pressure side, and is the safety valve leaking?
The post-cooling temperature is a bit high; the cooled liquid is sent to the flare, and the black smoke is caused by the gasoline components with a molecular weight of C5 or higher being sent to the flare as well. Since there isn’t too much liquid, this process isn’t continuous – once a certain amount has accumulated, it is carried to the flare along with the dry gas.
In some plants, the flares are managed as part of the storage and transportation system, and their design is essentially that of storage and transportation systems. The original poster didn’t explain clearly; I’ll try to answer. 1. Are there gas cabinets and compressor recovery systems? If so, it may be due to the gas holder operating at a high level and the valve interlock being activated, resulting in discharge in pulses. This slow, low-intensity burning causes much more damage to the torch tip than intense burning. 2. Is there an automatic adjustment mechanism to regulate the ratio between the torch atomization steam and the emitted gas? Does it form a stepwise ratio with the emitted gas? There is low-flow discharge; the misting steam control valve is not properly set, which causes this issue. 3. Does the misting steam from the flare contain too much condensed water? Especially since the flare is usually located in a remote area, at the end of the steam pipeline, and now that the process heating has been stopped, it’s easy for condensed water to accumulate. This is something I encountered at work; I’m not sure if it will be helpful to you.
The most likely reason for smoking from the flare is the presence of liquid in it, especially if the smoke comes in bursts – this definitely indicates the presence of liquid. You should check the water seal tank of the flare; in 99% of cases, there is oil on the surface of the water in that tank, and simply draining that oil will resolve the issue. If only the amount of flame emitted by the device increases, there should be continuous black smoke, rather than bursts of it.
The most likely reason for smoke coming from the torch is the presence of liquid, and could it also be that the safety valve is leaking?
It should be due to the presence of C3/C4 components in the dry gas; high weather temperatures are likely the reason for the increased load on the cooling equipment.
It is unknown whether the C3 content of the dry gas meets the product requirements; some of it also contains liquid. Since it may be used in other devices on a regular basis, no particularly detailed analysis was conducted on the C3 content in the dry gas. Now it is discharged into the flare, and smoking occurs due to incomplete combustion caused by the presence of liquid.