New Flare Burner Design Increases Combustion Efficiency and Methane Destruction Efficiency and Will Reduce Effects of Crosswinds: Machine Learning, Computational Fluid Dynamics, and Additive Manufacturing Used to Develop It

     According to a press release from Southwestern Research Institute:

“Researchers at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and the University of Michigan (U-M) have published a new study showing an advanced new methane flare burner, created with additive manufacturing and machine learning, eliminates 98% of methane vented during oil production. The burner was designed by U-M engineering researchers and tested at SwRI.”

One problem with conventional flare burners is that they are affected by crosswinds. Winds blowing across the flare burners can release 40% or more of uncombusted methane into the atmosphere.  

“SwRI collaborated with U-M engineers to leverage machine learning, computational fluid dynamics and additive manufacturing to create and test a burner with high methane destruction efficiency and combustion stability at the challenging conditions present in the field.”

“Even the slightest amount of crosswind significantly reduced the effectiveness of most burners. We found that the structure and motions of the fins inside the burner were essential for maintaining efficiency. The U-M team engineered it to significantly improve performance.”

The burner has a complex nozzle base that splits the flow of methane in three different directions. The impeller design guides the gas toward the flame. This novel design allows for the even mixing of oxygen and methane and provides time for the combustion to occur before crosswinds can affect it. This design is key to the burner’s efficiency.

“A good ratio of oxygen to methane is key to combustion,” said SwRI Senior Research Engineer Justin Long. “The surrounding air needs to be captured and incorporated to mix with the methane, but too much can dilute it. U-M researchers conducted a lot of computational fluid dynamics work to find a design with an optimal air-methane balance, even when subjected to high-crosswind conditions.”

Both teams are continuing to develop new burner design prototypes to increase efficiency further. The study is supported by the Dept. of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA—E) Reducing Emissions of Methane Every Day of the Year (REMEDY) program.

     Below is the paper’s abstract and some figures from it.

Abstract. Non-assisted flares are a significant fraction of the flares in use today, but there are few studies at real-world conditions. The current work presents a novel indoor testing facility for characterizing non-assisted flares including the effects of crosswind. Multiple flare designs were tested using flare gas flow rates from 1.8 to 113 thousand standard cubic feet per day (MSCFD) with natural gas and propane at crosswind speeds from 0 to 13.1 miles per hour (MPH). Combustion efficiency (CE) and destruction removal efficiency of methane (DRECH4) were determined for all operating conditions. CE > 98% was observed for low crosswind conditions for all flare geometries; however, the 3-in. pipe flare underperformed (CE < 96.5%) for natural gas at higher wind speeds and lower flare gas flow rates (e.g., 6.8 MSCFD and >4.6 MPH). Engineered burners significantly improved performance. The results are discussed in the context of EPA assumptions, prior pipe flare wind-tunnel studies, and proposed scaling relations.

 

References:

 

Engineers create more effective burner to reduce methane emissions. Southwest Research Institute. March 3, 2025. Engineers create more effective burner to reduce methane emissions

An Experimental Study of the Effects of Waste-Gas Composition and Crosswind on Non-assisted Flares Using a Novel Indoor Testing Approach. Jenna Stolzman, Luis Gutierrez, Alex Schluneker and Margaret S. Wooldridge. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol 64/Issue 2. January 1, 2025. An Experimental Study of the Effects of Waste-Gas Composition and Crosswind on Non-assisted Flares Using a Novel Indoor Testing Approach | Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research

SwRI, U-Michigan engineers create more effective burner to reduce methane emissions. Southwest Research Institute. March 3, 2025. SwRI, U-Michigan engineers create more effective burner to reduce methane emissions | Southwest Research Institute