# Oil refinery -- big fires? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 1, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-refinery-big-fires/231882 "2004-03-01T08:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-refinery-big-fires/231882/1 "2004-03-01T08:11:10Z")
Near my home are several oil refineries. Not close enough to be a nuisance, but close enough that we can see them while commuting to/from work. Sometimes, while driving, I notice that the refineries are having some sort of controlled blaze. It’s always at the top of the “smokestacks”, and sometimes the fires are ridiculously strong – one evening had a refinery whose fires were bright enough to be seen from several miles off. This afternoon, another refinery was burning something bright and fast, producing thick black smoke that billowed into the skies. Anyway, just what is it with the oil refinery process that requires these burns? Is it anything I have to worry about? ---
**Author:** ![RayMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e495f1/32.png) [@RayMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RayMan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-refinery-big-fires/231882/2 "2004-03-01T08:15:11Z")
The refineries are burning off methane gas–a byproduct of the refinery process. Today, lots of the country uses methane gas, known as “natural gas,” for heating their homes, but refineries typically have so much of the stuff that some of it must be burned off as a waste product. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-refinery-big-fires/231882/3 "2004-03-01T08:41:42Z")
They’re called [flare stacks](http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861690484/flare_stack.html). > [@](#): > > Flaring, most commonly associated with vapor plumes coming from tall stacks at the refineries – and the constantly-burning pilot lights visible at night – is the process used to burn off gases during “upsets,” when something goes wrong and equipment must be shut down rapidly to avert an explosion or fire. Those emergencies can produce thick black clouds of unburned hydrocarbons, which in turn produce six-figure fines from the air district and local governments. Refineries face possible fines if they flare for more than three minutes. > > Flaring also is used during routine maintenance, when gases must be bled off so crews can get inside equipment for repairs and renovations. > > Finally, flaring is used to burn off excess “fuel” gas created by the refining process that can’t be safely recycled back into energy production. Refineries say they attempt to capture and recycle as much of that gas as possible to reduce the amount of natural gas they must buy, but they can’t always store all of it safely. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-refinery-big-fires/231882/4 "2004-03-01T08:42:49Z")
Sorry, [cite](http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2003/01/20/story2.html). ---
**Author:** ![glilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/48db29/32.png) [@glilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glilly)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oil-refinery-big-fires/231882/5 "2004-03-02T03:50:40Z")
Flares are sometimes intentionally set at the top of the stack to burn off whatever comes out of the stack. One of the many safety features that were simultaneously “off line” during the catostrophe at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, was a flare. ☹