Effect of Sour Fuel Composition on Flare Combustion Efficiency

Mellisa Nelson, BP Canada
GL 564469

The project proposed here would focus primarily on the effect of H2S on flare combustion. Testing would be performed in the field on a full scale industrial flare due to the safety hazards associated with performing H2S work in a wind tunnel environment. The proposed project would be a combination of literature review, thermodynamic equilibrium calculations and full-scale measurements on a sour gas flare for various H2S concentrations. The DIAL method will be used to remotely measure hydrocarbon, H2S and SO2 concentration profiles across the flare plume as a basis of measuring the flare hydrocarbon and H2S combustion inefficiency and the conversion of H2S to SO2.

The results will improve the understanding of sour gas flares, their combustion inefficiency for both hydrocarbons and H2S and their emissions into the atmosphere. The project would include sampling of the plume and analysis to identify sulphur species other than H2S and SO2 that may be present in the plume from a sour gas flare.

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