The processing of crude oil or alternative feedstocks into usable products, such as gasoline and diesel, at refineries and the various processes at related facilities such as sulfur recovery plants and hydrogen production plants occur under controlled and monitored conditions.
Sometimes, operating conditions at these sites can cause process pressures at the facility to rise. When this happens, relief valves automatically open to route certain gases to the flare gas recovery system and back to the facility for further processing or, under certain situations, to elevated or ground flares equipped with burners.
Flares are safety devices and used to destroy any excess combustible hydrocarbon gases that may develop during certain situations beyond the facility’s control, as well as during planned shutdowns and startups. The destruction of the excess gases during the flaring process primarily produces water and carbon dioxide; however, flare emissions can also include oxides of sulfur (SOx), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), particulate matter (PM10), carbon monoxide (CO) and reactive organic gases (ROG) including volatile organic compounds (VOC) and other pollutants.
The Flare Event Notification System (FENS) will list flaring event notifications received in real-time. This information is based on preliminary input from the facility and may be updated in the future. By selecting the orange icon (see Legend) located on the map for each facility, you will be able to view more detailed flaring event information at that location. If there are no current or upcoming flaring events, you may still select the grey icon for the facility to view the history of flaring events for that facility. In the event the South Coast AQMD has further information on a flare event, the red icon will appear with a link to an incident update.
Clicking on the South Coast AQMD logo in the upper left corner will return you to the map.
The processing of crude oil or alternative feedstocks into usable products, such as gasoline and diesel, at refineries and the various processes at related facilities such as sulfur recovery plants and hydrogen production plants occur under controlled and monitored conditions.
Sometimes, operating conditions at these sites can cause process pressures at the facility to rise. When this happens, relief valves automatically open to route certain gases to the flare gas recovery system and back to the facility for further processing or, under certain situations, to elevated or ground flares equipped with burners.
Flares are safety devices and used to destroy any excess combustible hydrocarbon gases that may develop during certain situations beyond the facility’s control, as well as during planned shutdowns and startups. The destruction of the excess gases during the flaring process primarily produces water and carbon dioxide; however, flare emissions can also include oxides of sulfur (SOx), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), particulate matter (PM10), carbon monoxide (CO) and reactive organic gases (ROG) including volatile organic compounds (VOC) and other pollutants.
The Flare Event Notification System (FENS) will list flaring event notifications received in real-time. This information is based on preliminary input from the facility and may be updated in the future. By selecting the orange icon (see Legend) located on the map for each facility, you will be able to view more detailed flaring event information at that location. If there are no current or upcoming flaring events, you may still select the grey icon for the facility to view the history of flaring events for that facility. In the event the South Coast AQMD has further information on a flare event, the red icon will appear with a link to an incident update.
Clicking on the South Coast AQMD logo in the upper left corner will return you to the map.
