Description:
<jats:p>In many industries where combustible waste gases are obtained, flares are used to burn these gases in a controlled manner. Among other environmental aspects, the noise emissions associated with flaring are becoming increasingly important in many countries as population density goes up and residential and industrial areas move closer together. Installing noise control equipment on flares is almost impossible while they are in service, since flares are typically a safety related plant component that can only be turned off after the connected plant has been shut down. Accordingly, in order to plan appropriate noise control measures in time and to avoid unnecessary costs, predicting the noise emissions of flares as early in the design process as possible is crucial. This requires knowledge of the relevant individual noise sources associated to the flare system and the ability to calculate their respective contribution - in the operating condition in question - to the overall noise emission, based on the data available in the planning stage. The present paper summarizes these sources and outlines some of the individual effects and parameters having an influence on the acoustical characteristics of flares.</jats:p>