Energy gap
Question: The oil refinery near my home sports a constantly burning flame.
Other refineries around the world do the same. Why is this energy apparently
wasted and why can’t it be used as a power source?
Answer: In the early days of the oil industry, gas was a waste product and
was just flared off. Nowadays, however, gas is a valuable commodity and is
rarely thrown away. The flare your correspondent sees is only burning a very
small proportion of the gas produced in the refinery, and is there as a safety
measure.
The plant contains reaction vessels,…
