Study on the flare tip of a gas refinery with various designs of windshields using CFD simulations

The present study examines the flare tip of a gas refinery. The practical solution was proposed for the destruction of the flare tip because of the flame downwash in the windy condition. CFD modelling was carried out for the flare tip in a 3-dimensional, steady state condition and non-premixed combustion model by the Fluent commercial software. In order to validate the computational results, and compare with the operational data, the flare flame was taken photographed by a thermography camera. The photos were analyzed by ICI-Reporter software. The CFD results of temperature distribution in the symmetry line are compared with the actual results of the photography. Then, the effect of the windshield is investigated on the flare performance. Without a windshield, closed plate, closed mesh, open plate and open mesh windshields are the five different type of windshields which were used in the simulations. Results show that a closed windshield prevents the flame entrance to the space between the flare tip and windshield. This reduced the flare tip body temperature. A closed mesh windshield has the best performance and can eliminate the flame downwash.