Flare system design—The importance of periodic evaluation of existing facilities

Hasan Amin is a Senior Process Engineer with the process and control systems department at Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He has nearly 22 yr of experience in the process and operations of oil and gas and petrochemical industries. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco, Mr. Amin worked with CH2M Hill (formerly VECO Canada), Worley Parsons Canada, and others in the process engineering department. Throughout his career, Mr. Amin has worked in various project lifecycle activities, including proposals, conceptual design, front-end engineering, detailed engineering, construction support, commissioning, operations and maintenance. He earned a BSc degree in chemical engineering and an MSc in total quality management (TQM) from the University of Punjab, Pakistan, as well as an MEng degree in chemical and petroleum engineering from the University of Calgary, Canada. He is a registered professional engineer in Alberta, Canada.

Yousef Aloufi is a Process Engineer at Saudi Aramco, working as a subject matter expert in flare and relief systems. Aloufi has led key initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of industrial processes by developing innovative flare monitoring and minimization plans, leading to major contribution to corporate decarbonization strategy. He has also co-invented five patents related to emissions monitoring in flare systems. Aloufi earned BS degree in chemical engineering from the University of New Brunswick, and a Masters degree in chemical engineering and an MBA both from Cornell University.

Dustin Smith earned a BS degree in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and is a licensed professional engineer. He co-founded Smith & Burgess in 2007 and serves as Co-Owner and CEO. With more than 25 yr of experience, he specializes in relief systems design, PSM compliance audits, flare system optimization and incident investigations. Smith has contributed to API 520/521 committees and led projects that improved safety, compliance and operational efficiency for clients globally.

Shahin Zafari earned an MS degree in chemical engineering from Lamar University and is a project manager at Smith & Burgess. He has more than 10 yr of experience managing relief and flare systems design projects worldwide across the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Zafari has extensive knowledge of PSM and excels in relief and flare systems design, revalidation, flare optimization, concern resolution and compliance with industry standards and codes

Omar Thiam earned a BS degree in chemical engineering from Prairie View A&M University, and is a Technical Manager at Smith & Burgess. He has more than 10 yr of experience in PSM. He specializes in relief and flare systems design, revalidation, concern resolution and documentation within the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Thiam has taught relief system design courses globally and is a detail-oriented problem solver focused on client safety and compliance, with expertise in flare optimization, heat and material balance generation, dispersion analysis, and engineering software systems.