Plant Asset Management

Acoustic Induced Vibration of Flare Systems

A flare study considers the following aspects:

Acoustic Fatigue due to shock noise
from the pressure relief and blowdown
valves
Flow Induced Vibration due to the
relatively high flow velocities in a flare
system flow turbulence can excite high
levels of vibration
Valve Transient due to the fast
acting nature of relief valves, high
transient forces can occur as the valve
opens

Plant Asset Management (PAM) provides design

and troubleshooting support for pressure relief
/ flare systems. The flare system for a plant is
a critical safety system and is exposed to
several sources of excitation, that if
inadequately designed could result in rapid
fatigue failures and loss of containment.

Sonic flow in tail pipes and headers

sonic flow can dramatically increase
the internal acoustic energy with in
flare systems
Local noise relief and blowdown
valves are inherently noisy, as part of a
flare study PAM predicts noise levels
local to such valves

At design or operational stage a flare system

study can be performed to highlight high risk
components of a flare system. For high risk
components further more detailed analysis can
be performed to quantify the risk, and/or
suitable remedial modifications can be
recommended to reduce the risk of failure.

Plant Asset Management is a leading international provider of intelligent asset integrity management solutions to the energy industry, with a
diverse customer portfolio including many of the worlds leading integrated, independent and national oil & gas companies.
For more information on our provision of asset integrity management solutions, please contact
pam@petrofac.com or visit our website www.petrofac.com.

www.petrofac.com

Plant Asset Management

Acoustic Induced Vibration of Flare Systems

The initial flare study is used to highlight

components within the flare system that have
a high risk of fatigue failure. For operational
plant PAM has a suite of more detailed
assessments that can be used to quantify the
risk of a failure, and then model potential
solutions.
Remedial Modification
Dependant on whether the plant is at design
or operational stage often determines the type
most applicable modification. At design stage
typical modifications to reduce the risk would
be:
Using more robust connections, such as
forged tees and sweepolets, rather
than fabricated tees or weldolets
Increasing pipe wall thickness
Increasing pipe diameter
Installing additional supports
At operational stage typical modifications are:
Bracing of high risk connections
Installation of stiffening rings to block
pipe ovalling modes
Additional
locally

to

pipe
PSVs

supports,
to

such

mitigate

transient load on valve opening

as
the

There are compelling benefits to be achieved from

undertaking piping vibration induced fatigue
assessments:
Reduce the risk of a fatigue failure/hydrocarbon
release to ALARP
Reduce the number of unplanned shutdowns
Increase the integrity of piping systems
Compliance with statutory duty
Improve safety and reliability
Minimise financial liabilities and lost production
Minimise time detracted from core business
Reduced insurance costs
Assessments to identify piping integrity risks
due to acoustic induced vibration will
deliver value at all stages of the plant
lifecycle. Plant Asset Management has the
expertise, the experience and the software
tools to undertake such assessments at the
design stage of new plants, for operating
plants and during de-bottlenecking.

Plant Asset Management is a leading international provider of intelligent asset integrity management solutions to the energy industry, with a
diverse customer portfolio including many of the worlds leading integrated, independent and national oil & gas companies.
For more information on our provision of asset integrity management solutions, please contact
pam@petrofac.com or visit our website www.petrofac.com.

www.petrofac.com