For this, I would strongly recommend following the advice of FAR. Not all
of these rules will apply to you, as some are contest-specific, but check
out #16 and #19, in particular, are relevant when it comes to venting. They
have a lot of advice in general and would be happy to conduct a safety and
design review if you ask.
Here is a link to the page in particular: FAR Launch Contest FAQ
<https://friendsofamateurrocketry.org/launch-contest-faq/>
To summarize their advice, they recommend against flare stacks and instead
focus on mitigating ignition risk and minimizing the number of people
involved in the fueling process. They also have a lot of good advice in
terms of safety systems for emergency depressurization (REDS) and the
location of vents and valves.
On another note, it's not dramatic, but a common source of injuries are
ladders. As such, if you can design the rocket so that prep work does not
involve a ladder at the launch pad, that would be ideal.
Avoiding BLEVE and overall rigorous system design tends to be important as
well.
FAR is full of very knowledgeable and friendly people. I'd really recommend
reaching out to them.
On Sat, Jan 29, 2022 at 11:56 PM Cole Evans <coleevans@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
All,
Long time listener and first-time caller here; I'm currently in the final
stages of design for my LOX/LCH4 rocket project and am looking for some
advice on how to safely dispose of methane from GSE during and after fill
operations. I'm leaning towards a flare stack right now, but I've found it
hard to find information on the proper design of these (notably flashback
protection) and was hoping someone here might have advice/recommendations
of what the best approach would be. Additionally, any tips on general
methane system best practices and cleaning would be greatly appreciated.
- Cole
