(124a) Wind Impact on Air-Assisted Flare Performance

In this work, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to predicate the impact of wind speed on the air-assisted flare performance with a new design tip. CFD is a powerful and reliable technique that can be used to investigate the flaring process under different scenarios, which can be costly and risky. The simulation model was first developed and validated against the available experimental data, then the model was used to simulate all simulation cases. Three different wind speeds of 5, 10, and 15 m/s were used for the same waste gas flow rate of 0.5 ft/sec. Propane gas was used as a flaring gas that flowed through a 6-inch flare. The results show that the flare performance at high wind speeds caused a decline in the flare performance when the new tip was not involved in the operation. The results also showed that the impact of the high wind speed on the flare performance was significantly declined when the air was injected from the new tip. The new tip injected air has a significant impact on the flare performance when the flow of waste gases is very low, and the wind speed is high.