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Summary Information • First documented by the TCEQ Mobile Monitoring Team and Field Operations Divisional staff and later confirmed by the regional office, this air-assist flare was documented by split-screen imagery to show uncombusted/partially combusted emissions as seen by a regular video camera/bare eye versus the GasFindIR Camera. After consultation, actions taken to improve this flare's performance fell into two categories. First, all of the lines leading to the flare header were inspected during a scheduled outage. Maintenance was performed on pressure relief valves, and rupture disks were installed in some locations. This step was conducted in an attempt to reduce the amount of the material going to the flare. After this was completed, the flare was re-imaged with the IR camera but did not show significant improvement from the normal plant process stream. Secondly, the two-speed drive motor of the blower was replaced with a variable-speed drive. Upon completion and due to the fact that the first step had stabilized flow to the flare from previous conditions, the amount of assist air to the flare was adjusted ("tuned") while the flare was being imaged to optimize combustion. Since this was completed, the flare has been re-imaged monthly and continues to appear to look the same - very much improved, but still with a slight "tail".
