Flares. Part II. Capital and Annual Costs

In an earlier article, major commercially available flaring technologies designed to control waste gas streams containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were described in a qualitative comparison. In addition, a procedure for steam-assisted, elevated flares was outlined by which important sizing parameters could be calculated, given certain information about the vent stream. This article describes the use of these parameters in developing a budget (±30percent) cost estimate for the total capital investment and the total annual costs of controlling a waste stream of VOCs. An illustrative example problem is presented.