There are many varieties of flare systems in the petrochemical combustion equipment universe, but all share common ground when it comes to the fundamentals of a comprehensive flare maintenance service. All combustion equipment should be monitored through a preventative maintenance program. But even further, it is likewise important to have in place a flare system preparedness program so it can be quickly brought back online in the event of natural catastrophe or sudden failure.
Combustion Equipment Preventative Maintenance
Preventative maintenance for flares and stacks must be tailored to the individual flare and its components. Flares & Stacks, Inc. identifies four major elements to an effective prevention maintenance program:
- A regular schedule for flare inspection
- Regular maintenance on the guy wires (both inspection and lubrication)
- With each inspection, the flare maintenance service prepares a report providing comprehensive status of the flare and its parts.
- The flare maintenance service then presents the client with projections for turnaround time of the anticipated future maintenance issues.
Because anyone in the industry can tell you that the concept of flare maintenance should also take into account preparation for natural catastrophes, like hurricanes and earthquakes, or for spontaneous failures of key components, general maintenance is only half the battle. The other half is being ready for these sudden failures in order to return a down flare system back up and online again.
Flare System Failure Preparedness
There are three areas to be addressed in order to make a flare system ready to face any failure scenario:
- Full inspection of the combustion equipment will take into account the present strength and weaknesses of the system and all of its components
- Compile and maintain an inventory of all the combustion equipment components that are at risk.
- Have a flare maintenance service that is expert in the fields of systems inspection, fabrication, and maintenance retained to be an immediate response in the event of flare system failure, ready to repair and replace all affected components immediately.
The value of having a flare system under the care of flare system experts, both for general maintenance and for immediate failure repair, saves the petrochemical company a great deal of money, dramatically reduces down time, and provides an assurance against situations that would compromise worker safety or risk chemical hazards.
Flares & Stacks, Inc. prides itself on being the flare maintenance service that has revolutionized combustion equipment maintenance procedures, and is the first in the industry to put together a flare systems failure preparedness program.
