Flares

by Hamid
(Tehran, Iran)

I study on flares control system. Now I need a simulator for emission of flare.

Thank you if you guide me.

Barry's Response - Hamid:

At work, (currently at CCGL -
Calvin Consulting Group Ltd.), we have used a simple spreadsheet based on our local laws, that takes flare input gas at a certain flow rate and with the flare's composition determined by the gas analytical company. We use those numbers to determine the amount of sulphur, nitrogen oxides and heat emitting from the flare stack.

The heat is used to determine buoyancy and dispersion once the effluent hits the atmosphere. I'll see if I can get a copy of the flares spreadsheet, but it is copyright-protected.

The model we use is CALPUFF, obtained from the US government's EPA - SCRAM website, which is okay to use for flares. It allows the user to input buoyancy parameters (such as those obtained from the spreadsheet), combine it with a formatted meteorological data file, which are more difficult to get, and calculate the maximum concentrations occurring in the hillsides and surrounding region.

Search this site for more information now.

Stand near a refinery at night, and the horizon glows.

Fire leaps from a stack, twisting in the wind, sometimes crowned with black smoke. It's a scar on the night sky, a symbol of waste. Others say it's safety itself - a controlled burn that prevents toxic or explosive gases from building up. Flares remind us that industry, like nature, has its own fire rituals.

Flaring is simple: hydrocarbons mix with air, ignite, and create heat, light, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. It rarely ends there. Volatile organic compounds, black carbon soot, nitrogen oxides are produced by incomplete combustion. As the plume rises, it enters the atmospheric boundary layer, where wind shear and turbulence decide whether pollution disperses high above or sinks back down. Smog can form at ground level on a muggy night with low winds. In order to make sense of chaos, meteorologists use Gaussian plumes, buoyancy flux equations, and atmospheric stability classes.

Flares connect water and air quality in unexpected ways. Plumes can rain condensates and acids. As black carbon settles on snow and ice, it darkens the surface and speeds up melting. Fish behavior has been altered by offshore flaring, even seabirds are disoriented by perpetual light. It's not just a technical detail; it's a reminder that "air" and "water" don't separate.

Let's take a sideways step.

Literature has always linked flame with vision: Dante's Inferno, Prometheus stealing fire, Diogenes' lamp. Modern flares might be the same -- an industrial honesty that shows us the price of energy. We can see flaring as a mirror of trade-offs instead of just an emission source. CO2 is real. Methane is worse. You get catastrophic accidents without flaring. There's a counter-narrative: sometimes the flame is the lesser evil.

At Calvin Consulting, we don't just measure smoke, we help turn fire into foresight. Models don't hide reality; they reveal it, so leaders can make good choices and communities can breathe."

Imagine if the next generation could interact with flares not just as onlookers but through augmented reality -- point a phone at a refinery and watch dispersion plumes unfold, see predicted health impacts, and compare scenarios with and without abatement. We could build this tomorrow with real meteorological data and computational models.

Skeptics warn against overregulation, but they also remind us that stewardship requires both restraint and gratitude. Everything on earth belongs to someone else, the Lord, who trusts us to care for it. It doesn't mean we shouldn't use energy; it just means we should use it wisely. It's paradoxical, but sometimes flares are the best thing you can do.

Consider flares more than just a smear of fire in the night sky or a metaphor for heated debate when you see them. Will they mark the end of combustion, or will they lead us to cleaner, more thoughtful energy?

How do you see those flames? Was it a waste, a warning, or a revelation? Let me know how you read the sky in the comments.