Flaring Up World Fertilizer

KIRSTEN BERG, ZEECO INC.
, USA, including ammonia, will be provided as well as the design

philosophies used to ensure stable, efficient and clean
OUTLINES SPECIFIC DESIGN
combustion of such compounds.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR FLARING IN
AMMONIA AND UREA PRODUCTION. Difficulties with ammonia combustion
A
Ammonia is a nitrogen-based compound, and nitrogen is a
s industry practices for safely and effectively chemically inactive element. Other factors contributing to the
disposing of waste products in ammonia or urea difficulty of ammonia combustion include low flame
plants continue to evolve, operators require more propagation speed, low heating value and low flame
comprehensive and complex flaring solutions. temperatures. Meeting these challenges requires specific
Designing combustion equipment to provide effective design criteria for ammonia flares (Figure 1).
destruction efficiency (DE) for chemical, petrochemical and To facilitate the combustion of ammonia, it is necessary to
gas processing applications presents specific challenges that restrict the exit velocity of the waste gas to ensure the
must be assessed on a per case basis. Typically, process reliefs ammonia has adequate residence time for high DE
with substantial heating value and the ability to easily ignite combustion. Zeeco has accumulated test data demonstrating
require less complexity while still ensuring proper DE. a correlation between ammonia flame stability and exit
However, for industries producing chemical compounds velocity, which supports this design philosophy. If a flare
where the nature of the chemical itself makes ignition and system is not designed with this key metric, there is a higher
high DE difficult to achieve – including ammonia – potential for incomplete combustion and/or an unignited
non-standard flare design practices must be employed to release of the waste gas.
ensure clean and efficient combustion. In this article, an Figure 2 illustrates this further: the maximum design exit
overview of the challenges of combusting compounds, velocity for waste gas containing ammonia is dependent
gas can propagate combustion with ease after initial ignition is
accomplished.
In contrast, for ammonia combustion, the windshield design
should be modified to ensure wind effects are minimised and
interaction between ignition point, air and fuel are concentrated
in this area. Pilots are placed at strategic locations to increase
stability and to be as close to the flare tip perimeter as possible
for ignition. Zeeco designs and uses a specialty flame
stabilisation system for low heating value gases, such as
ammonia. With this system in place, the flare tip, pilots and
flame stabilisation tabs are synchronised to promote the highest
achievable flame stability. All of the components interact to
provide a highly stable combustion zone so the ammonia burns
freely and the flare system achieves high DE.
Exit velocity strategies

The physical behaviour of the gas can be modified when flaring
ammonia. As mentioned, the effect of exit velocity regarding the
combustion of ammonia waste gas is dramatic and design
constraints can be put in place to promote stable combustion.
Zeeco typically elects to increase the flare tip barrel diameter in
conjunction with the use of diffusion apparatuses for ammonia
applications. In doing so, ammonia can be slowed to an
acceptable exit velocity and diffused throughout the flare tip,
promoting proper mixing and stable combustion over a uniform
area.
Design constraints for urea process flares

Figure 1. An example of a flare system designed to handle Urea processing plants represent another inherently challenging
ammonia and urea facility waste gas. flaring application. The following offers proven design
considerations for the proper combustion of urea process relief
upon the flare tip diameter. In general, as the flare tip diameter streams.
increases, there is a larger volume of gas and higher heat A significant volume of inert byproducts that are generated
release from the flame. Thus, designing the flare tip diameter through the urea process make combustion of waste streams
based on controlling the exit velocity assists in maintaining a difficult to achieve. To meet this challenge, urea plants typically
flame temperature higher than the ignition temperature of employ four different types of flares to handle the various relief
ammonia, and improving the overall flame stability. streams from the plant: ammonia, discontinuous, continuous and
main. Design considerations for an ammonia flare have been
Design considerations for ammonia discussed. The discontinuous and main flares commonly handle
combustion streams with higher heating values and are, therefore, much
Extensive testing and validation performed at Zeeco’s testing easier to burn. As such, these flare designs are more standard and
facility generated innovative advances in design considerations do not require the specific design constraints of an ammonia
for the burning of ammonia process gas. flare.
Another typical byproduct of the urea process is oxygen, a
Tip waste gas distribution highly reactive compound. In the presence of other
Commonly, the portion of the flare referred to as the ‘flare tip’ is combustible compounds, oxygen makes a relief stream a
the upper 10 ft of the flare system. As ammonia waste gas enters combustible mixture even before reaching the flare tip exit.
the flare tip body, access to air and uniform mixing to promote The continuous flare typically handles streams that contain
combustion play a critical part in burning the compound. To oxygen. Specific requirements are necessary for waste streams
achieve even distribution of the waste gas throughout the entire containing oxygen because a combustible mixture is already
flare tip body, ammonia flare tips need to include flow present in the flare system before the introduction of ambient
distribution devices that properly disperse the waste gas, expose or combustion air. The continuous flare tip is designed to
the waste stream to ignition sources as well as increase access to ensure the minimum exit velocity of the waste stream is higher
the combustion air. than the flame velocity for the waste stream. Essentially, this
model keeps the flame at the exit of the flare tip and prevents
High stability design and flame stabilisation flame propagation into the flare stack and upstream equipment
On typical utility flare tips, windshields are flushed with the flare (flashback). In addition, the top portion of the flare tip must be
tip exit and the pilots arranged on the outer perimeter of the applicable for severe environments to protect the flare tip
windshield. In this case, a flame stabilisation system provides barrel from the high temperatures of the flame. Adhering to
uniform flame stability for initial ignition as high heating value the rigors of flaring high heating value waste streams helps
| WORLD FERTILIZER | REPRINTED FROM JULY/AUGUST 2017

extend the life of the flare tip and increases production time
between turnarounds.
Discussion
Aside from the combustion design for ammonia facilities,
ancillary equipment should be assessed and evaluated.
For instance, liquid seal drums (LSDs) are commonly used as a
safeguard to separate the flare system from the upstream header
and equipment. As ammonia is soluble in water, when a relief
stream containing ammonia flows through the LSD, the water
will absorb some of the ammonia and form a corrosive ammonia
solution. Often, the LSD is designed so that all of the water is
removed with the waste gas during a flaring event and the LSD is
refilled upon completion. In such instances, corrosion due to an
ammonia water solution is not likely. However, if there are
flowrates expected where the water will not be removed and Figure 2. Typical maximum design exit velocity versus
replaced, further consideration may be needed. Requiring the nominal flare tip diameter.
LSD to be made of specialty materials, coating the inside of the
LSD, and/or maintaining the quality of the water by continually ammonia flare should take the high amount of pressure drop
skimming, and routine cyclical draining/refilling of the water are from the upstream piping or at the relief source into
all possible methods to reduce the effect of ammonia streams consideration.
through an LSD.
Ammonia flares are designed to have low exit velocities and Conclusion
low heat releases, so that noise caused by the flare itself is There are many design aspects to consider when designing flare
minimal. However, ammonia streams are typically high-pressure systems and ancillary equipment for ammonia waste
streams from the upstream equipment in the plant. A portion of processes. With the influence of more stringent emission
this pressure drop will translate to noise that will travel through regulations on the horizon, progress towards sound inherent
the plant’s waste stream piping. As the flare tip is the only exit design of flare systems to relieve waste will become more
point for that waste stream and due to the necessary design crucial. Through further testing and innovation, flare system
characteristic for the flare tip, the tip can act as an amplifier for providers, such as Zeeco, will have the opportunity to develop
the noise produced in the upstream piping. Operators new solutions to provide clean, efficient and effective flaring
experiencing unexpected noise levels at the exit point of an solutions for ammonia and urea plants.
REPRINTED FROM JULY/AUGUST 2017 | WORLD FERTILIZER

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KIRSTEN BERG, ZEECO INC.

, USA, including ammonia, will be provided as well as the design

Exit velocity strategies

Design constraints for urea process flares

| WORLD FERTILIZER | REPRINTED FROM JULY/AUGUST 2017

REPRINTED FROM JULY/AUGUST 2017 | WORLD FERTILIZER

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