Engineering Practice

Flare-Gas Recovery Methods for Olefin Plants

Adding flare-gas recovery units at strategic locations of an olefin plant can not only
reduces emissions, but will save money as well
Farhad Ghadyanlou Steam Acid gases Methane-rich tailgas
Morvarid Petrochemical Plant H2-rich tailgas
Back to compression
Demethanizer
Ali Vatani
Deethanizer
University of Tehran
TLE C2
splitter
Feed

Water

A
lthough gas flaring is neces- Ethylene
sary at some chemical pro- Depro-
Gas panizer
cess industries (CPI) plants
or facilities, more and more
efforts are underway to reduce flaring, C3 splitter
not only to help reduce emissions of TLE Debuta-
nizer
air pollutants, noise and light, but also
Fuel oil and Recycle
to save both energy and raw mate- gasoline
rials, which translates into money —
potentially millions of dollars.
Today, plant operators are becom-
ing more conscientious about reduc- Feed and furnace Quench and Compressor and Hydrocarbon-separation section Gasoline
ing the release of greenhouse gases section fractionation section condensate section Propylene
(GHGs), especially carbon dioxide, in TLE = Transfer line exchange
an attempt to prevent further global FIGURE 1. A typical flowsheet for an ethylene plant is shown here [1]
warming. In some countries, existing
or pending regulations on the release can be recovered, with correspond- essential [2–4].
of GHGs, or the imposition of carbon ing savings of more than a million Flares are classified according to
taxes are forcing operators to rethink dollars per hour. different viewpoints, for example in
the simple option of gas flaring. terms of the following:
In some cases, however, it can Olefin plants • Height — elevated (according to
make good economic sense to re- Olefin units (Figure 1) are among the the support, which can be self
cover rather than burn the flare most profitable plants in the petro- supported, guyed wire, derrick)
gases, which are often valuable hy- chemicals industry. Due to the nature and ground flares
drocarbons that can be used as fuel of these units, there is a good poten- • Assisted fluid for smokeless op-
or even feedstock. The investment tial for using FGRUs during startups eration — steam-assisted or air-
costs for adding a flare-gas recov- to reduce emissions and recover assisted flares
ery unit (FGRU) can thus be offset by capital. Given the expanding num- • Combustion chamber — open,
utilizing the energy or the resources ber of olefin units in the world today, semi-open or closed flares
(or both) recovered by the FGRU. with flaring an integral part of the fac- • Number of tips — multipoint or
The environment benefits by reduc- tories, large amounts of energy and matrix flares
ing the volume of flare gases that are capital are lost. Therefore, it makes • Flare-gas pressure — high-,
actually flared. good sense to consider more deeply medium- or low-pressure flares
In this article, we investigate meth- the use of FGRUs with such units. • Special areas — storage areas or
ods to recover flare gases and thus terminals can have dedicated flares
reduce gas flaring in olefin plants. As Flares and flaring
an example, the benefits of installing Flaring is a safe and effective method Flaring points in olefin plants
an FGRU after the cold flare drum at for the disposal of hydrocarbons in To achieve zero flaring, we must
an ethylene plant are presented. situations where there is an equip- first investigate what are the main
The article examines flare-gas ment failure or in emergencies, such reasons for flaring. Activities where
recovery methods and the advan- as instrument failure, power failure or flaring is used include plant startups
tages of applying them to olefin a fire in the plant. Many vapors are and shutdowns, maintenance proce-
plants. The case study presented corrosive, explosive or flammable dures, plant upsets and sometimes
here concludes that significant and cannot simply be released into even normal operation.
amounts of ethylene and fuel gas the atmlosphere, so burning them is Flaring leads to the release of large
66 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015
amounts of CO2, carbon monoxide, Flare header To flare Carbon bed for
oxides of nitrogen (NOx), hydrocar- Carbon bed for C5+ recovery propylene recovery To flare
(down-
bons and other volatile organic com- stream
pounds (VOCs) and others. Besides of water
Existing knock- seal)
emissions to the atmosphere, simple out drum
Water seal
flaring is a loss of both energy and
raw materials.
For instance, an ethylene plant
with a production capacity of 1.2 bil-
lion lb/yr of ethylene can easily flare
about 5 million lb of ethylene during a
single startup. Assuming a flaring effi- Compressor
suction
ciency of 98%, the resulting air emis- Filter
scrubber
sions will include at least 15.4 million
lb of CO2, 40,000 lb CO, 7,400 lb Blower
NOx, 15,100 lb of hydrocarbons and
100,000 lb of VOCs. This is just a
Vacuum
normal accounting of ethylene flaring C5+ separator
Vacuum
pump pump
emissions. If all the flaring sources
C5+
are included, such as ethane, pro- stream Propylene-rich stream Compressor
pylene and propane, huge amounts
FIGURE 2. This flare-gas recovery system is based on beds of activated carbon [8 ]
of air emissions can be produced
through one single plant startup. By scheduled. Unscheduled flaring may flare until the unit can be returned to
reducing the volume of flare gases, be caused by a trip. Scheduled (or normal operating conditions.
we can also be assured of complete planned) flaring occurs during shut- We can summarize the following
combustion and a smokeless flare. downs, maintenance and startups. methods that can be used in reduc-
The main activities at olefin plants During a shutdown, the plant feed ing gas flaring in ethylene plants:
that lead to gas flaring are from the will usually be decreased to the mini- 1. Define recycle streams for the re-
following sources: mum amount with which the plant covery of off-specification products
1. Cracked-gas-compressor (CGC) is still stable, and the cracking-gas 2. Maintain the amounts in towers by
suction: When the compressor is compressor will be out of service. keeping them in total reflux status
stopped; from the initial startup of This process will lead to flaring. 3. Properly control feed when inject-
furnaces until the furnaces reach Startup is a situation that leads ing feed into furnaces, one furnace
their full capacity; and during the from the initial state of the process after another
commissioning of the compressor to the final operating conditions. 4. Cool the chilling section as quickly
2. Chilling train tailgas outlet: When During this operation, the feed is as possible to reach the optimum
there is a limitation to the fuel-gas gradually increased and equipment temperatures
system from the demethanizer, ad- will be pressurized, and hot or cold 5. Ensure that conditions are normal
ditional products will be sent to the liquids will reach their operating con- before the demethanizer flow is
flare for plant-safety considerations ditions. During these activities, large established downstream
3. Deethanizer top product: When amounts of gas are directed toward 6. Return high-purity ethylene back
this stream is not within design a flare boom. into the reflux drum to reduce the
specifications for sending to the Unscheduled flaring includes op- settling time in the tower [5–7]
hydrogenation reactor, there will eration failures, equipment failures,
be flaring in order to prevent cata- electrical failures and so on. When Ethylene plant FGRUs
lyst deactivation such events occur, the best option There are several methods for flare
4. Hydrogenation reactor outlet: A to ensure the safety of equipment gas recovery, which include the fol-
large amount of flaring in an olefin and personnel is flaring, which is an lowing general categories:
plant occurs at this point. The out- effective, safe and fast method for 1. Physical: The gases are recovered
let stream from the reactor will be handling gases that are generated. and purified by special equipment
sent to the flare until the required For plant trips that lead the unit into and pressurized (if required) for
specifications are achieved. There a purge condition, activities must be process units to be used as fuel
will also be gas flaring after send- quick and effective to return the unit or feedstock
ing this stream to the C2-splitter to normal operating conditions. 2. Chemical: The flare gases are
tower until the tower reaches the Most trips occur with cracked- reacted over a catalyst and con-
normal operation conditions and gas compressors, refrigeration cycle verted into industrial materials that
liquefaction occurs compressors, instrument failure, can be recovered
5. C2-splitter top stream: Until the weather and so on. These trips may 3. Biochemical: This newest method
tower product reaches the re- cause a partial or total shutdown of a of recovery is performed using
quired specifications, there will be plant. In such circumstances, pipes bacteria that carry out degradation
gas flaring and equipment are depressurized reactions in the towers, thereby
Flaring may be scheduled or un- and the vent streams are sent to the converting the flare gases into

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015 67

 Bursting disc
must have a good understanding of
Flare- how the flare gases are produced,
opening distributed and best consumed at
valve
(FOV) the production facility.
Designing an FGRU for an ethyl-
Flare Ethylene/ethane ene plant is far more complex than
to quench
Flare tower designing one for a liquified natural
gas
WF drum
gas (LNG) plant or for petroleum re-
fineries, because the processes and
equipment performance at an ethyl-
ene plant are highly sensitive to the
compositions involved. For example,
Cooler
To flare
changes in the heating value of fuel
Separator gas fed to the furnace can cause
Fresh caustic the destruction of the special burn-
Liquid-ring compressor ers. Composition changes can even
cause problems in the pyrolysis pro-
cess, resulting in a plant shutdown.
Spent caustic
Therefore, when introducing flare-gas
FIGURE 3. This proposed FGRU can be used on the outlet of the wet flare drum to return C2 components recovery in ethylene plants, one must
to the quench tower
be very careful to keep the operation
Bursting disc of the plant stable and ordered.
There are two physical-separation
Flare- processes that can be used in olefin
opening
valve FGRUs: membrane separation and
adsorption. It should be noted that
the use of temperature-swing ad-
Flare
sorption (TSA) greatly increases the
risk of undesirable olefin polymeriza-
Flare gas
Cold flare drum tion reactions; but with pressure-
swing adsorption (PSA), such risks
Compressor can be avoided.
C3 to refrigeration cycle Figure 2 shows an example of an
or C3+ storage adsorbent system based on acti-
vated carbon (AC) for flare-gas re-
To flare covery. There, one can see that a
FIGURE 4. This proposed FRGU can be used on the outlet from the dry and cold flare drum for the recov- stream from the main header from
ery of C3 components the knockout (KO) drum is directed
to the FGRU. This stream is directed
Bursting disc to a blower and sent to the absorber
H2 and CH4 system. (The blower prevents any
Flare- problems that might occur in the
opening flare-gas header).
valve Ethylene
The first pair of AC beds are for C5+
recovery and second pair for propyl-
Flare
ene recovery. The stream leaving the
top of the propylene adsorption beds
Olefin Cold flare drum Cooler Flare is rich in nitrogen, and is sent to a flare
unit
Separator downstream of the KO drum [3, 8].
Compressor
In addition to adsorption beds (in-
cluding PSA), membrane-based sep-
aration systems can be used for the
FIGURE 5. The design for a FGRU used on the outlet of the cold flare drum to recover ethylene, methane
recovery of propane/propylene and
and fuel gas ethylene at the refrigeration cycles
charge, with the remaining gases
simpler components tip maintenance, as well as reduce sent to the C3+ storage tank. It is
Regardless of which method is thermal radiation, light, noise and notable that the recovery and reuse
used, the recovery of some or all of odor. Ultimately, flare-gas recovery of valuable components, such as C2
the flare gases will decrease combus- leads to increased plant efficiency. or C1–C3, from the wet flare (WF)
tion products and the release of pol- In order to select the most appro- drum to the quench tower is pos-
lutants into the atmosphere, reduce priate solution for flare-gas recovery sible and economical (Figure 3). This
fuel requirements and minimize flare- and the reduction of gas flaring, you should be kept in mind during the
68 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015
 TABLE 1. EMISSIONS FROM FLARING TABLE 2. EMISSIONS FROM FLARING
Pollutant Without FGRU With FGRU Thermal radiation (kW/m2) Noise level (dB)
(lb/h) (lb/h)
Distance (m) Without FGRU With FGRU Without FGRU With FGRU
NOx 9.90 6.65
10 5.66 3.46 86.30 85.00
CO 71.42 48.01
20 5.87 3.44 86.19 84.89
CO2 75.50 50.76
30 6.04 3.40 86.02 84.72
initial design stage for a new plant, 40 6.14 3.32 85.78 84.49
so that the design of the refrigeration 50 6.17 3.23 85.50 84.21
cycle can include enough cooling to 60 6.14 3.12 85.18 83.89
supply the FGRU. In this way, we can
70 6.04 2.99 84.83 83.54
recover valuable gases and reduce
emissions form gas flaring. 80 5.88 2.85 84.46 83.17
Generally, all of the quench towers 90 5.67 2.71 84.08 82.78
in an olefin plant operate in the pres- 100 5.42 2.56 83.68 82.39
sure range of 0.4–0.5 barg. Because
caustic is available both for cooling tion of the capacity of the compres- Where:
and as the absorbing media, it can sor system that is used [9, 10]. Q = production rate
be used for operating the liquid-ring Ex = emissions of pollutant x, lb/h
compressor in Figure 3. Emissions from flaring EFx = emission factor of x (from the
Additional methods are possible In order to compare the emissions the U.S. Environmental Protection
for recovering flare gases from the of pollutants, noise (acoustical) and Agency's compilation of emission
cold flare drum, as shown in Figures thermal radiation for a plant before factors, AP-42 [11]
4 and 5. In these methods, the outlet and after the introduction of a FGRU, Table 1 shows the results of the
gas from the cold flare drum are sent one must first be able to calculate calculation for the emissions of NOx,
to the FGRU using one compressor. these values for the case of flaring CO and CO2 before and after the in-
Because the gas in this section (cold only. Simulations were performed stallation of a FGRU.
section) is dry, it is not necessary to using commercial software for a typi- Noise and radiation. The thermal
use a special compressor, such as cally sized olefin plant with a flare gas radiation and noise level as a func-
a liquid-ring compressor. Another capacity of 90 metric tons per hour tion of distance from the flare can be
important advantage is that an ab- (m.t./h), and the results were com- calculated using commercial soft-
sorption tower (and regeneration of pared to the same plant that uses ware for flare systems. The results
the absorbing fluid, if using amines) the third proposed FGRU shown of these calculations are presented
is not required. in Figure 5. The 90-m.t./h value is in Table 2.
typical for the startup of an olefin It is also possible to make quick
Parameters affecting FGRU unit that had been shutdown due to estimates of the thermal radiation
The parameters with the strongest a problem in the cold section. The released during flaring of gases by
influence on the recovery system is calculations for the simulaton were using Equation (3):
the composition of the flare gas. In based on the following equations:
general, changes in molecular weight Pollution emissions. In the high- (3)
in the stream going to the FGRU can temperature combustion processes, Where:
create the potential for overloading several hundred to several thousand Q = production rate
the compressor, leading to possible chemical reactions are taking place. H = heating value
damage. Molecular weight changes Assuming complete combustion, V = volume of gas
can also increase the temperature of the following general reaction can A simple calculation for noise emis-
the gas after compression. The fol- be used: sions can also be performed using
lowing three compositions have the Equation (4), which is based on the
most notable influence: VDI 3732 Guidelines for an elevated
1. The effect of N2 on heat exchang- flare [12]:
ers and compressor performance
2. The effect of H2 and light gas on (1)
compressor performance
3. The effect of steam on the sepa- Of course, complete combustion (4)
ration drum, the compressor and is not normally achieved in flares,
membranes so there will also be carbon mon- Where
The temperature of the inlet to the oxide, NOx and other hydrocarbons LWA = weighted average sound
compressor must also be controlled. released during flaring. A simpler power of the total noise emitted, dB
If the compressor inlet temperature way to calculate the effluent of pol- q = gas mass flowrate, ton/h
is higher than the design tempera- lutants during flaring is to use Equa- q0 = reference mass flowrate, ton/h
ture, the gas must be diverted to the tions (2): For a flare that burns a gas stream
flare. It should be pointed out that of 90 m.t./h with a heat of combus-
the capacity of the FGRU is a func- (2) tion of 2,390 kJ/kg, Equations (3)

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015 69

 and (4) give 59,800 kJ/s or about 60 TABLE 3. INVESTMENT COSTS FOR ONE and Shapour Taghipour from Mor-
MW of power released by the flare. ETHYLENE-PLANT FGRU varid Petrochemical Plant for their
This value drops to about 40 MW Cost Item support and guidance.
with the introduction of a FGRU that $16,900,000 Equipment
reduces the volume of gas flared by Refrences
$3,890,000 Instrumentation
about 40% (35.9 m.t./h). 1. Process Analytics in Ethylene Production Plants, Oil &
For the same 40% reduction in $997,000 Piping Gas Industry, 2007.
flare gas being flared, Equation (4) $797,000 Electrical 2. Ghadyanlou, F., “Flare Design,” 1st ed., Andishesara
Publishing Co., March, 2011.
shows a reduction in sound emis- $5,980,000 Operation
sions by about 6.8 dB. 3. Shahini, M.,“Flare Gas Management,” Jahanno Publish-
$26,300 Construction and installation ing Co., 2th Ed., March 2011.
$29,800,000 Total 4. Baukal, C.E. and Schwartz, R. E., “The John zink Combus-
Payback tion Handbook,” 1st ed., CRC Press,March 27, 2001.
Table 3 shows that the total invest- 5. Falaqi, F. H., "The Miracle of Petrochemicals-Olefin In-
ment costs for the FGRU proposed unplanned shutdowns. This means dustry: An In-Depth Look at Steam Crackers,” Universal
in Figure 5, which is capable of han- that about $9 million/yr of valuable Publishers, Fla., 2009.
dling a flare-gas stream of 90 m.t./h, gases are returned to the plant and 6. Liu, C., and Xu, Q., Emission Source Characterization
is about $30 million [13, 14]. the investment costs are recovered for Proactive Flare Minimization during Ethylene Plant
Start-ups, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 49, 2010, pp. 5,734–
Based on the installation of such a after about three years of operation 5,741.
FGRU after the cold flare drum, we of the FGRU. The environmental 7. Yang, X, Xu, Q. and Li, K., Flare Minimization Strategy
have calculated that 43.3 m.t./h of benefits of reduced emissions of pol- for Ethylene Plants, Chem. Eng. Technology, 33, No. 7,
ethylene and 10.8 m.t./h of fuel gas lutants, noise and thermal radiation 2010, pp. 1,059–1,065.
can be recovered and returned to are an added bonus. ■ 8. Page, J. E., “Reduction of Hydrocarbon Losses to Flare
Systems,”1st Industry Technology Conference, Houston,
the olefin plant. The value of the re- Edited by Gerald Ondrey April 22–25,1979.
covered gases is roughly equivalent 9. Zadakbar, O., Vatani, A. and Karimpour, K. Flare Gas Re-
to about $52,000/h. Acknowledgment covery in Oil and Gas Refineries, Oil and Gas Science
According to monitoring studies, The authors would like to thank and Technology, Rev. IFP, Vol. 63, No. 6, 2008, pp.
this olefin plant has about 185 hours Najem Beg and Sacha Sarshar from 705–711.
of flaring per year during planned or Caltec Co., and Gholamreza Jokar 10. Blanton, R. E., Environmentally and Economically Benefi-
cal Flare Gas Recovery Projects in Petrochemical Facilities,
National Petroleum Refiner's Assn. Environmental Confer-
ence West, San Antonio, Tex., September 2010.
11. AP-42, Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors,
5th ed., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washing-
ton, D.C., www.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42.
12. VDI 3732 – Characteristic Noise Emissions Values of
Technical Sound Sources – Flares, VDI Guideline, Verein
Deutscher Ingenieure, Düsseldorf, Germany, 1990.
13. Trambouze, P., “Petroleum Refining — Material and
Equipment,” Vol. 4,Technip Editions, Paris, 1994.
14. M. Peters, M., Timmerhaos, K. and West, R. E., “Plant
Design and Economic for Chemical Engineers,” 5th ed.,
McGraw-Hill Co. New York, December 2002.
Authors
Farhad Ghadyanlou is the
manager of the R&D Dept. of the
Technology Metals | Advanced Ceramics Morvarid Petrochemical Plant,
(Petrochemical Zone No 2 , Pars
Economical Energy Zone, Assa-
luyeh, Iran; Phone: +98-772-
Ultra 76 Plus Tantalum Alloy 7293035, Ext: 5086; Email:
ghadyanlou@gmail.com). He holds
an M.Sc. degree in chemical and
Corrosive Resistant Material for Hot Concentrated Acid Applications environmental engineering from
H.C. Starck’s ULTRA 76 Plus tantalum alloy combats aggressive, hazardous chemical corrosion in the Islamic Azad University, South Branch of Tehran and a
most severe hot acid environments. B.Sc. in chemical engineering and the gas industries from
Islamic Azad University of Omidea (Khuzestan, Iran).
> Minimized hydrogen embrittlement
> Extends equipment service life Ali Vatani is an associate pro-
> Reduces operation downtime fessor in the School of Chemical
> Increased operating temperatures in HCI, H2SO4 acids and other acids Engineering, College of Engineer-
> Eliminates separate “Platinum Spot welding” application steps ing at the University of Tehran
(Enghelab Ave., Tehran, Iran;
Download a free brochure at www.hcstarck.com, call +1 216.392. 5077, +33 6.69.01.85.48 Phone: +98-21- 66461024;
or email info@hcstarck.com. Email: avatani@ut.ac.ir). Among
the many lecture courses he offers
are those dealing with oil-and-gas,
Visit us at ACHEMA 2015
Hall 5.1, Stand D50
petrochemicals, gas processing
and distribution and two-phase fluid mechanics He holds
B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Tehran,
and a Ph.D. from the University of Leeds (U.K.).
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