KazanOrganichesky sintez : Kazanorgsintez PJSC reduced its environmental footprint by upgrading the flares

22 April 2021

Kazanorgsintez PJSC reduced its environmental footprint by upgrading the flares

Kazanorgsintez PJSC presented the project of upgrading the flares F-169, F-79, and F-768 at the XXI International specialized exhibition Energy. Resource Saving during the Tatarstan International Forum of Energy Efficiency and Ecology. The project was awarded the Grand Prix in the Energy-Efficient Designs category at the Energy-Efficient Equipment and Technologies competition as part of the exhibition.

Kazanorgsintez upgraded three flares in 2018 - 2020. Fundamentally, the project targets the reduction of utility consumption and environmental footprint. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Mikhail Ivanov and President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov learned the outputs of the project at the Kazanorgsintez's booth walking down the exhibition.

Plants and factories use flares for smokeless combustion of gases. Waste process gases cannot simply be vented to atmosphere due to the high content of environmentally harmful chemicals. Combusting the gases, flares make it possible to convert the incoming gases into relatively environmentally friendly products.

Up until 2018, Kazanorgsintez used in its flares F-169, F-79, and F-768 steam with a pressure of 30 ata as supplied from the nearby Kazan CHPP-3 (branch of TGK-16 JSC) for smokeless gas combustion. As using the steam contributed to the ice buildup on the flare towers and tips in wintertime, in-plant compressed air was supplied to individual flares in place of steam. However, the amount of air supplied was limited by the line size and the capacity of the compressors. Because of this, it was not possible to ensure complete combustion of the vent gases, and Kazan residents could observe dark smoke coming from the flares on some days.

As a solution to the issue, it was proposed to use, instead of steam, pressurized air from the local blowers installed specifically for this purpose. They were supposed to be positioned near each flare installation. The new approach was designed by Fakelnye Sistemy LLC, a research and production company.

During one year of operation, the flare systems using air over steam demonstrated high efficiency of gas recovery. Kazanorgsintez was able to quit using the 30-ata steam. The total annual savings of heat energy in steam amounted to 51,800 Gcal, and fuel gas - 1,520 tons. The main thing however is that we succeeded in completely smokeless gas combustion followed by significant reduction in environmental impact.