Observations of plume rise from sour gas flares

Abstract

The rise of a plume resulting from the operation of a flare was evaluated in winter and summer during neutral and unstable atmospheric conditions. The plume was made visible through the injection of oil into the flame. Analysis of wind information, plume photographs, and infrared thermometer data showed that: the plume behaved in a manner that would have been predicted on the basis of the 2 3 plume rise formula; the amount of entrainment of air into the flare plume was similar to that found by other investigators for a conventional stack plume; about 55 per cent of the heat of combustion of flared gases was lost due to radiation; the value of the coefficient, C 1, used in the 2 3 plume rise formula should be 1.64 and the correlation coefficient between 777 observed and theoretical plume rises was 0.74.