Why do oil rigs at sea have a constant flame burning on top of them? Natural gas? And why couldn’t it be collected as well instead of wasting it?
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On the rig I work on, natural gas IS collected and stored for offload, we still have a flare tower with a constant flame as a safety mechanism. If the process becomes unstable (often during start up or shut down) and the pressure get above the set pressures, the excess gas is sent to the flare to be safely burnt. There is a constant incentive to minimise flaring because it is just burning profit. But safety comes first, if I have to flare it, I will.
Someone mentioned PRV’s (pressure relief valves) and of course we have those too but they are an absolute last line of defense for when the pressures reach the design limit of the system they are protecting. Lifting PRV’s is a sign you have lost control and in my workplace we require a shutdown and full system inspection if a RV lifts
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