Refinery Wide Relief and Flare System Evaluation Case Study

 

The Challenge

After recently purchasing an idle refinery on adjacent property, a major petroleum company determined that the pressure relief and flare system (PRFS) design and design basis documentation were out-of-date. The PRFS required evaluation and documentation based on current industry standards and the new owner's corporate standards.

Our Approach

ioMosaic first sought to understand the systems requiring protection and then to establish appropriate project guidelines to ensure the relief and flare system design met applicable codes and standards. After ensuring the corporate standards and project guidelines were in agreement with current industry practice, a team of ioMosaic engineers collected the necessary information to evaluate the relief and flare system including field verifying relief device identification tags, equipment nameplates, and relief system piping.

With an informed team of engineers, ioMosaic then proceeded to document applicability rationale for all systems in the studied refinery units including the Crude, Coker, FCC, and Utilities. A detailed review of the overpressure scenario documentation was completed with senior personnel, including identification of overpressure cases and relief loads for critical relief devices on HP/LP separators in hydrotreating units.

Using client requested software, ioMosaic quantified the relief system adequacy for all applicable overpressure scenarios. Our team has extensive experience with multiple pressure relief and flare systems design software to fit the needs of our clients. For those scenarios expected to result in simultaneous discharge to the flare system, a hydraulic analysis of the flare system piping and an evaluation of the adequacy of the flare network equipment was performed.

The Benefits

Several potential deviations from current industry practice were identified due to the age of the facility, therefore ioMosaic categorized the potential deviations and documented several mitigation options to alleviate concerns. Working with site personnel, the deviations were prioritized and resolved, resulting in thoroughly documented relief and flare systems certain to provide adequate overpressure protection for their facility. The client now had peace of mind.

Learn More

Our mission is to help you protect your people, your plant, your stakeholder value and our planet. To learn more about how we can help you manage risk, call us at 1.844.ioMosaic.