Flare systems are a critical component of industrial operations, and increasingly, a regulatory and reputational priority. Facilities across oil & gas, petrochemical, and other industrial sectors are under mounting pressure to ensure that their flaring activities meet strict environmental and safety standards.
Yet despite this urgency, many organizations still rely on outdated tools and manual observation techniques that fall short in today’s operating environment. Traditional methods like thermocouples, pyrometers, and even visual inspection provide only partial, intermittent, or subjective insight into flare system performance.
With rising emissions accountability, evolving regulatory frameworks, and increasing workplace safety demands, facilities need a more complete and reliable solution. That solution is Continuous Flare Stack Monitoring.
Why Flare Monitoring Needs a Rethink
Modern industrial sites face a complex mix of operational, environmental, and regulatory pressures. Regulations at the local, national, and international levels are growing more stringent, particularly as flare-related emissions become a focal point for enforcement.
Roughly 140 billion cubic meters of natural gas are flared globally each year. A malfunctioning flare system not only increases emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), but can also expose operators to hefty fines and public scrutiny. Investors and environmental watchdogs are watching closely, and so are regulators.
At the same time, flare system failures can result in hazardous working conditions. Combustion issues, unlit pilot flames, or improperly burning gas can release dangerous fumes or lead to flare stack explosions. As recent data suggests, incident rates in the U.S. industrial sector are climbing again after years of decline. Facilities can no longer afford blind spots in flare stack performance.
The Gaps in Traditional Flare Stack Monitoring Methods
Most facilities today use a combination of sensors, instruments, and human observation to evaluate flare performance. While these tools each serve a function, they are often limited in scope or outdated in capability:
- Thermocouples are commonly used to detect pilot flame presence, but they provide no data on the main flame’s characteristics, stability, or shape.
- Pyrometers offer insight into temperature at a single point within the combustion zone. However, their narrow field of view makes them ineffective for assessing the flare as a whole.
- Visual inspections, still mandated under protocols like EPA Method 22, rely heavily on human judgment to detect smoke, flame color, or opacity. These inspections are periodic and highly subjective, and they often miss critical events that occur outside scheduled monitoring windows.
Taken individually or together, these tools leave substantial gaps in visibility. And in high-risk environments where real-time response is essential, incomplete or delayed data is a liability.
A Better Approach: Continuous Flare Stack Monitoring
To address these shortcomings, forward-looking facilities are adopting Continuous Flare Stack Monitoring systems. These solutions utilize advanced thermal and visual imaging technology to deliver real-time, 24/7 monitoring of flare activity—across one or multiple stacks.
By capturing a full thermal and visual profile of flare behavior, these systems provide valuable data on:
- Flame presence and continuity
- Temperature distribution and anomalies
- Smoke and particulate emissions
- Flame shape, size, and color
- Combustion quality and efficiency
Operators gain immediate awareness of abnormal flare behavior and can take corrective action faster. Whether it’s adjusting feed rates, investigating potential pilot outages, or triggering alerts in a control room, the insight is continuous and actionable.
Why Does Flare Stack Monitoring Matter Now?
As industrial operations grow more automated and compliance frameworks become stricter, facilities need solutions that match this pace. Continuous Flare Stack Monitoring doesn’t just support regulatory compliance, it enhances safety protocols, strengthens environmental stewardship, and provides a defensible position in the face of audits or incidents.
These systems are particularly valuable in remote or multi-flare facilities, where manual inspections are impractical or unsafe. With integrated software, operators can monitor multiple flare stacks from a central dashboard, review archived footage, and generate reports that satisfy both operational and compliance teams.
Time to Close the Visibility Gap
Outdated flare monitoring tools may have sufficed in the past, but today’s industrial challenges demand more. With real-time insight, automatic alerts, and detailed flare diagnostics, Continuous Flare Stack Monitoring empowers facilities to operate more safely, cleanly, and efficiently.
To learn more about how Continuous Flare Stack Monitoring solutions from Systems With Intelligence can modernize your operations, download our latest white paper: How Continuous Flare Stack Monitoring Enhances Safety and Ensures Compliance for Industrial Facilities.