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James G. Seebold
Flare pulsation due to seal drum
sloshing
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ABSTRACT
In this paper we will discuss the most likely cause of most (but not
all) occurrences of flare pulsation. The periodic surges of flame
that occasionally burst forth from elevated flares into the quietude
of the nighttime sky are often caused by seal drum sloshing. We
will explain how seal drum sloshing arises, how to tell if seal drum

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Flare pulsation due to seal
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sloshing is the problem and what to do about it if it is. We will

show that the diagnosis, cause and elimination of flare pulsation
due to seal drum sloshing is most easily understood in terms of
The Fluid Mechanics of Beer Steins. The exact analytical solution
will be recounted briefly and several verifying experiments,
including one you can do in your coffee cup or in a large mason jar
or in a bathtub with a laboratory partner of your choice, will be
suggested. Finally several real world examples that prove the
theory will be discussed.
INTRODUCTION
In petroleum refineries, petrochemical and chemical plants, elevated flares are
the ultimate safety device. They are used to safely dispose of excess process
gas that is generated from time to time by minor and occasionally major plant
upsets. A complex engineered flare tip is mounted on a tall stack that is often
provided with a water seal at its base. The water seals function is to prevent
the entry of air and the development of an explosive mixture in the main plant
piping.
This paper discusses flare pulsation due to seal drum sloshing. The problem
is one of fluid mechanics but its manifestation is the disturbing light and
sound of combustion pulsation in an elevated flare. Sloshing of the water
level in a seal drum can lead to periodic surges in the gas supplied to the
combustion tip resulting in a periodic combustion whump. While the sound
pulsations easily protrude more than 10 decibels above the steady
combustion noise levels, it is the intermittent nature of the disturbance that
annoys people. For typical seal drums, the period of the fundamental
sloshing motion is of the order of one second and pulsations noticed by
remote observers occur at periods that can be explained precisely by fluid
mechanical sloshing within the seal drum.
WHAT HAPPENS
Before turning to the analytical solution that provides an exact prediction of

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the liquid sloshing period in a right circular cylindrical domain such as a flare
seal drum, we will discuss the types of liquid motion with which we are
concerned and illustrate why they produce flare pulsation.
Consider the sloshing that so easily arises when you walk down the hall with
your coffee cup. This is 1st mode sloshing, up on one side of the cup and
down on the other; then, a half-period later, down on the formerly up side and
up on the other. This is the mode with which the authors are most familiar
and which we have seen the world over. It is important to understand that this
fundamental (longest period, lowest frequency) sloshing motion that so easily
arises is not symmetrical.

(Visualization from Van Dyke, M., An Album of Fluid Motion, Parabolic Press, Stanford, 1982, Plate 191.)

As is so easily proven in your coffee cup, the fundamental sloshing mode is

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to-and-fro. The streamlines illustrated above are not circularly symmetric.

There is a nodal diameter along which the equilibrium liquid level remains
unchanged. Experimental observations reveal that the 1st mode sloshing
nodal diameter precesses, probably in different directions depending upon
the hemisphere in which the observations are carried out, but we are only
familiar with northern hemisphere experiments. In any event, the 1st modes
important distinction of antisymmetry leads us to consider two other types of
liquid sloshing in a right circular cylindrical domain.
The authors are not entirely sure that they have ever actually observed flare
pulsation due to sloshing modes other than the fundamental antisymmetric
sloshing mode illustrated above. Nevertheless we believe that there are at
least two other types of sloshing motions that must be accounted for in any
proposed fix of flare pulsation due fundamental (1st mode) seal drum
sloshing.
The reason is that, done wrong, the so-called fix might get rid of 1st mode
sloshing and its attendant flare pulsation but cause one of two symmetrical
modes to arise to produce flare pulsation at somewhat shorter but also
predictable periods. That would be like, as Mark Twain said, catching the
cure and dying.
Below is a nice visualization of symmetric 2nd mode sloshing in a cylindrical
tank. It can be thought of as the first harmonic of the antisymmetric
fundamental sloshing mode that arises so easily in your coffee cup.
But try to produce this one in your coffee cup! You will only produce a mess
for your trouble which illustrates that, unless the other modes are aided as we
will discuss presently, the antisymmetric fundamental sloshing mode is
generally the culprit in flare pulsation due to seal drum sloshing.
The 2nd mode sloshing visualized in the next illustration is circularly
symmetric. Not to-and-fro like the 1st mode but up in the center, down at the
wall; and then a half-period later, down at the center, up at the wall. There is a
node but it is a nodal circle as shown. If you imagine rotating the
visualization around its central axis you will have a good picture of the

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streamlines and how the liquid would move if only you could get that mode
going in your coffee cup. Good luck and get some paper towels ready!

(Visualization from Van Dyke, M., An Album of Fluid Motion, Parabolic Press, Stanford, 1982, Plate 191.)

Before discussing the one other sloshing motion, the liquid pendulum
mode, which we believe has to be accounted for in fixing flare pulsation due
to seal drum sloshing, given the fluid mechanics background thus far
presented perhaps we should explain how the flare pulsations arise.
Consider the flare seal drum sketched below. It has an imaginary handle to
remind us that what we are really discussing is The Fluid Mechanics of Beer
Steins.

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Suppose that the plant pressure has depressed the water level in the dip leg
just down to the bottom of the dip leg. The next increment of plant pressure
would produce a gas release. Suppose further that a sudden process burp is
sufficient to start first mode sloshing as shown.
That is not much of a supposition. It has been demonstrated in -scale
plastic models that this sloshing motion quite naturally arises even in a
steady release of gas or, in the case of the plastic models, air. Virtually
inevitable just like in your coffee cup, it is like a self-starting Look Ma no
moving parts! washing machine.
With the liquid level depressed inside the dip leg just to the bottom of the dip
leg, lowering the hydrostatic head on one side of the dip leg produces a gas
surge to the flare tip as shown above. A half-period later another surge is
produced on the opposite side of the dip leg. Thus, for the fundamental 1st

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mode antisymmetric sloshing motion, the flare pulsation period is half that of
the sloshing period; i.e., there are two flare surges during each complete
sloshing cycle. The result is shown below.

In the case of 2nd mode symmetrical sloshing, should it arise, the depression
of the liquid level outside the dip leg would be uniform all around the dip leg.
Thus, in the case of 2nd mode sloshing, should it arise, the flare pulsation
and the sloshing period would be the same.

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Finally, not quite as an afterthought, we need to introduce one further

sloshing motion. The reason is that, while as far as the authors are aware
they have never observed it, we believe that this mode could arise if aided, for
example, by an improper antislosh baffle design that suppresses 1st mode
antisymmetric sloshing but perhaps favors or even guides symmetric
sloshing. That mode is the liquid pendulum motion illustrated above. We
do not have a visualization of this mode.
EXACT ANALYTICAL SOLUTION
Assuming the sloshing motion is inviscid, incompressible and irrotational, the
continuity equation must be satisfied throughout the liquid contained within
any right circular cylindrical domain such as the one pictured below.
Expressed in terms of the velocity potential , the continuity equation is the
Laplace equation

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2 = 0.
In polar cylindrical coordinates, the natural coordinates for a right circular
cylinder, the Laplace equation has the form
+ (1/r) + (1/r2) + = 0.

rr

zz

Partial differentiation of the velocity potential in any coordinate direction

gives (minus) the velocity in that direction. That is the definition of the
velocity potential; thus,

u=

- r , v = - (1/r) , w = - z.

Imposing the boundary condition of no flow through the walls,

- r = 0 at r = a
w = - z = 0 at z = - h
u=

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it remains to impose a boundary condition on the free surface.

Assuming the motion of the liquid is irrotational, the Bernoulli equation
applies throughout the liquid and particularly on the free surface; thus,
p/ + v2/2 + gs =
t

where p is the pressure in the liquid at the surface and v is the velocity at the
surface.
Interestingly perhaps, this is the only point at which dynamics
enters the solution.
In a linearized analysis, we assume that the liquid surface remains flat and the
motion is small; then p is constant and v2 can be neglected. Differentiating
the linearized free surface condition partially with respect to time and
introducing the kinematic condition that particles in the free surface are
constrained to move in the free surface,

st = w = - z ,
we arrive at the free surface boundary condition

tt = gst = - gz at z = 0 .
We assume that the time and space parts of the solution can be represented
as a product

(r,,z,t) = (r,,z)sint.
Substituting, we arrive at the formulation of the eigenvalue problem for small
sloshing motions in a right circular cylindrical domain such as that of a beer
stein.
+ (1/r) + (1/r2) + = 0

rr
r
zz

r = 0 at r = a; z = 0 at z = - h;
2 = gz at z = 0.

Only for certain values of 2 (eigenvalues) does this problem have any
solution at all. Those are the circular frequencies (2) of the natural
sloshing modes (eigenmodes) of the liquid surface.
The solution for the spatial part of the velocity potential , arrived at by the
method of separation of variables, is

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= Jm(r)cos(m)cosh[(z+h)]
where Jm is the Bessel function of the first kind and order m. The are
determined by

Jm(a) = 0
which comes from the no flow condition at
r = a. The lowest zero
corresponding to the lowest natural frequency occurs for m = 1 at a =
1.8412. The sloshing frequency is obtained by substituting the solution for
the spatial part of the velocity potential, , into the free surface boundary
condition

2 = g(z/)|z = 0 = gtanh(h)
= g(1.8412/a)tanh(1.8412h/a).
Finally, we can express the exact solution for the 1st mode sloshing period as
T = 2/ =

MODIFICATION FOR ANNULAR TANKS

The presence of the central dip leg in a flare seal drum allows the liquid
surface to be discontinuous at the center. This in turn permits Bessel
functions of the second kind to enter the solution of the eigenvalue problem
for the sloshing period. As a result, the diameter ratio now enters the formula
for the sloshing period.

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In this case the no flow boundary condition at the wall produces

Jm()Nm(Di/Do) - Jm(Di/Do)Nm() = 0
in which J and N are the first derivatives of the Bessel functions of the first
order and first and second kind, respectively; Di is the inner diameter of the
tank and Do its outer diameter.
The modified formula together with a chart for the now diameter-ratio
dependent values of is shown below. We see that when the inner diameter
(Di ) approaches zero, the solution for the 1st mode sloshing period
approaches that for a simple cylindrical tank ( = 1.8412), just as it should.

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For more on this the reader should consult Horace Lamb. He is dead but he
wrote a nice book.* In the interim hydrodynamics has not changed much as
far as the authors are aware.
SIMPLE EXPERIMENTAL PROOFS

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Inserting into the formula above typical values for a common coffee cup, Do =
2" and h = 2", we get T = 0.290 seconds, or about 17 sloshes in 5 seconds.
Pass the coffee. Nudge your cup and count. You will get about 17 sloshes in
5 seconds. Aint science wunaful? For a little bigger experiment, something
your kid might want to do for a science fair, try a large mason jar.

* H. Lamb, Hydrodynamics, sixth edition, New York:

Dover Publications, 1932, p. 285.

Alternatively, if you are of an analytical bent, carry out the foregoing analysis
in rectangular coordinates. This is the Professors Trick, of course. Solve
the easy one and leave the hard one for the students. The solution in a
rectangular domain is not more complex but it is more complicated.
If you just want the answer, the formula for the period of the fundamental

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sloshing wave in a rectangular domain such as, for example, a bath tub, is
exactly the same as for coffee cups, beer steins and flare seal drums except
that 1.8412 is replaced by /2 and Do is the length of the tub. You might like
to check that out with a laboratory partner of your choice.
Ever see a Bessel function? Solutions for waves in rectangular enclosures
like bath tubs come out in terms of sines and cosines. In a coffee cup, beer
stein, mason jar or flare seal drum, waves come out in terms of Bessel
functions of which there are two kinds, as well. Appropriately if not
interestingly, Bessel functions are also called Cylinder functions and that is
why.
Bessel functions of the first kind are the only ones that are continuous at the
origin, so they are the only ones that work in a beer stein. Unless, of course,
you drink your beer with a straw. In that case the wave form could be
discontinuous, Bessel functions of the second kind would be admissible and
that realization is what brought us to the foregoing modification of the theory
for annular tanks like a flare seal drum and dip leg.
The first two Bessel functions of the first kind look like this:

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If the shape of the first part of J1 looks familiar, it should; multiplied by cos,
it is the shape of the sloshing wave in a beer stein. If you want to see a J0 ,
watch as you set your coffee cup down sharply. Its rings will appear in all
their glory, gleaming in the reflected light on the surface!
REAL WORLD PROOFS
In a 1972 episode illustrated below, flame pulsations were timed and counted
while the flare was operating. The seal drum was 8-ft in diameter with a
central dip leg of 3-ft diameter and a water depth of 5-ft. From the formula
given above, the 1st mode sloshing period would be expected to be about
1.91 seconds resulting in a calculated flare pulsation frequency of 1.05 per
second. The observed pulsation frequency was 1.1 per second.

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In the more recent episode in 2000 illustrated above, the calculated pulsation
frequency of 0.78 per second was again bang-on with the observed 0.75-0.80
per second flare pulsation.
SUPPRESSION
Now let us think about how we might prevent or interfere with these perfectly
natural sloshing motions. Below we have superimposed on the sloshing
visualizations an indication of the equilibrium water lever, a dip leg and a
perforated cylindrical antislosh baffle.
Perforated baffles have long been used to suppress sloshing in aircraft wing
tanks and spacecraft propellant tanks. Should the sloshing motion arise, the
perforated baffles cause the sloshing wave to spend its energy in viscous
dissipation in consequence of which the sloshing motion simply does not

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arise.

To prove this, experiments have been done in which the entire contents of the
tank are suddenly dumped in on one side of the tank. Alternatively, the tank
can be cocked to produce any initial sloshing wave amplitude that is desired
and then suddenly righted. In both cases, the liquid level returns to
quiescence in about 1 sloshing cycles.
To suppress sloshing, the perforated antislosh baffle needs to intercept the
sloshing streamlines. While a cross-baffle would work to suppress 1st mode
antisymmetric sloshing it would not be effective against the two symmetric
modes because the sloshing flow would simply parallel the perforated baffle
plate. The perforated cylindrical baffle may be the simplest viscous damping
device
that would be effective against both antisymmetric and symmetric
sloshing modes, but any baffle configuration that intercepts both
antisymmetric and symmetric flow streamlines should work.

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Various proprietary designs for seal drum antislosh internals are available
today. They vary in effectiveness depending upon how well they intercept the
sloshing streamlines to produce effective viscous damping.
Needless to say, in the foregoing real-world examples and in others with
which the authors are familiar, perforated plate antislosh baffles did the trick
and, designed right, can be expected to do so every time. If you are bugged
by that inevitable sloshing motion whilst walking down the hallway, make one
for your coffee cup! You will see.
CONCLUSION
We have shown that many (but not all) instances of flare pulsation can be
understood in terms of the fluid mechanics of beer steins. With that
understanding we have explained how the viscous damping provided by
suitably designed perforated antislosh baffles can be expected to work every
time to suppress the sloshing motion. Albeit perhaps not briefly as promised,
the exact analytical solution was recounted and several verifying
experiments, including one you can do in your coffee cup or in a large mason
jar or in a bathtub with a laboratory partner of your choice, were suggested.
Finally several real world examples that prove both the theory and the fix were
discussed. Thats pretty much all that was promised. You can learn a lot
from beer steins.
For a .pdf of the complete paper email

jim.seebold@earthlink.net
and include the paper title so I know what to send!

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