Managing the Hazards of Flare Systems

Online | Face-to-face | In-company

Overview

This course will develop your understanding of flare systems and how to control the hazards associated with them to ensure effective process safety and environmental compliance over the life cycle of a flare system. 

Flare systems are used throughout the petrochemical, oil refining and upstream oil and gas industries and serve as key relief and abatement systems. However, it is crucial that they are designed, operated and maintained correctly in order to avoid accidents.

This course will give you a thorough understanding of the key design, operation, maintenance and plant modification aspects which must be controlled. It will comprehensively review the operations and equipment on all types of flare systems. It will categorise the key hazards which must be controlled, reviewing these individually, with the help of case studies of past industry accidents and incidents which demonstrate design errors only revealed in operation.

Learning outcomes

The course will help you to understand:

• the components of a flare system, how they work, why the components which make up a flare disposal system are there, and how they can fail or be rendered ineffective
• the key principles for ensuring flare system safety
• the key types of incidents and accidents and how to use this knowledge in the design, operation, modification and maintenance of flare systems
• the regulatory requirements from safety and environmental regulations such as COMAH and PPC & EPR regulations
• the general principles of flare system design.

Who will benefit

• Those who have responsibility for designing, operating, maintaining and/or modifying flare systems
• Personnel from operating companies, consultancies, EPCM companies and regulatory bodies who may be responsible for regulating assets which contain flare systems

Course outline

• Review of a flare system incident
• Review of flare system components 
• Key flare system siting considerations – eg ground level heat flux criteria
• key flare system sizing considerations
• Hazard 1 – keeping air out of the flare system 
• Hazard 2 – keeping flare system lit
• Hazard 3 – preventing liquid overfill 
• Hazard 4 – preventing freezing/blockage 
• Hazard 5 – exclusion of personnel from flare systems  
• Hazard 6 – flaring toxic materials 
• Hazard 7 – preventing over-chilling 
• Hazard 8 –  working on flare systems (live break ins where no isolation valves exist, effectiveness of isolation valves etc) 
• Hazard 9 – performing operational checks, or maintenance within flare 'sterilisation' zones
• Environmental aspects of elevated flare stack systems (noise, light, loss of pilots etc)
• Other hazards (e.g. steam hammer – as steam to elevated flare headers is usually at end of a header)

Upcoming courses

Online 

• Dates to be confirmed – register your interest 

Online courses consist of three live and interactive modules with the trainer.

Live sessions are delivered via Microsoft Teams. If you don't already have this installed, you can join as a guest in order to access the training.

Face-to-face 

• 4–5 December 2024, Rugby, UK

Not available then?

Register your interest in alternative dates.

Fees

• IChemE member – £800 + VAT 
• Non-member – £1,000 + VAT 

How to register

Select your preferred course from the list of upcoming start dates and go to the 'Book course' button at the bottom of the page.

More than one person to train?

Multi-place discounts

Discounts are available to companies booking more than one place. Bookings must be made at the same time to receive the discount.

• 2 places – 10% discount
• 3 places –15% discount
• 4 or more places – 20% discount

In-company training

This course can be delivered to corporate teams, either on-site or online. This could be a cost-effective option if you have several people requiring the training. Content can be tailored to your specific requirements. Request a quotation.