ABSTRACT
The ANSI/API Standard 537 (API 537) denes a are as a “device or system used to safely dispose of relief uids in an environmentally compliant manner through the use of combustion” [1]. Flares are used to destroy unwanted gases in a wide variety of applications from petroleum production, to reneries and petrochemical plants, to downstream product handling [2]. These unwanted gases may include off-spec product or vented streams that may be ammable, toxic, or corrosive [3]. In each case the are system must separate liquids from gases (if necessary), ignite the gases, and provide the stable combustion necessary for destruction while minimizing smoke, thermal radiation, and noise [4]. A are is an important interface between a plant and its surroundings. Industry, the public, and government regulators are increasingly challenged by the need for factual knowledge of are performance. Reed (1981) notes that
ares are the most critical element in the safe operation of a process plant [5]. Chaudhuri and Diefenderfer [6] state that are system design is very important to the economics of plant operation.
