(385c) A Novel Multi-Scale Computation Method for VOC Emission Speciation From Flaring

High capacity flare stacks are a characteristic of chemical plants and refineries. Flares provide a safe disposal route for hydrocarbons in the event of a major plant upset. However, they are also the most obvious symbol of emission activities. Involving a large number of species and reactions, it is extremely difficult to conduct an accurate on-site measurement to quantify the amount of emissions generated and the flare efficiency. Due to this tremendous difficulty and cost of field measurements, the authors of the present work, employed a novel multi-scale computation method to identify the speciated Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions that result from flaring operations. To achieve this, a reduced mechanism was developed. This was done using a novel algorithm on the basis of sensitivity analysis, reaction rates and skeletal approach developed at Lamar University. This chemical kinetic mechanism for the combustion of C1-C3 hydrocarbons has to be validated by comparison with data from literatures. In this work, the reduced mechanism developed has been tested extensively for its validation through performance indicators such as laminar flame speeds, adiabatic flame temperature and ignition delay tests in Chemkin. In addition to that, results of CFD simulation of flaring of lighter hydrocarbons using the reduced mechanism were compared with that of the experimental data. Obtained data points which closely match with the experimental data thus validate the accuracy of the reduced mechanism used for simulation.