Low Flow Flare Systems Without Pilot Gas or Power
Auto-igniting flares engineered for remote sites with no fuel gas or electricity available — EPA compliant and built to work where infrastructure ends.
✓ No External Power Needed
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Low Flow Flares with No Pilot Gas and No Power Required
What Is a Low Flow Flare and How Does It Ignite Without Pilot Gas?
A low flow flare is a compact flare built for small waste gas volumes, the kind you get from tank vapors and remote wellheads, where a full-size flare and its pilot system would be overkill and impractical.
The hard part at these sites is keeping an ignition source lit with no power and no pilot fuel gas. The Hero Low Flow Flare solves it with a battery or solar-powered direct spark ignition system. Instead of burning a continuous pilot, it produces a spark at the flare tip every three seconds, whether or not waste gas is flowing, so an ignition source is always present the moment gas arrives.
A monitoring device confirms each spark and notifies your personnel, which gives you continuous assurance without sending a crew to a remote location.
Tell us your site power and gas situation and we will confirm the ignition setup.
Ready to spec a low flow flare for your site?
No Pilot Gas, No Power, No Problem
Conventional flares need a continuously burning pilot, which means a pilot fuel gas supply and usually a power source to monitor it. At a remote, unmanned site that is a real cost and a real reliability risk, because if the pilot gas runs out or the power drops, the flare goes dark.
The Hero Low Flow Flare removes both dependencies. There is no pilot to keep lit and no pilot gas to supply, and the spark system runs on battery or solar power, so the flare keeps an ignition source ready on its own.
That is what makes it the practical, low-cost choice for the remote and budget-sensitive sites where other flares are hard to keep running.
Compliance and Destruction Efficiency
A low flow flare still has to meet the rules for the tank vapors and wellhead gas it burns. The Hero Low Flow Flare provides 98% destruction efficiency and meets EPA 40 CFR 60.18 flare tip exit velocity requirements, which supports compliance for tank vapor and remote flaring under the NSPS OOOO program.
The continuous spark and flame arrestor keep combustion safe and reliable in unmanned field conditions. We can reference this compliance in your permitting documents. For more on the current rules, see our OOOOb/c overview, then contact us for the records you need.
Flaring at a Remote Site with No Power or Pilot Gas?
The Hero Low Flow Flare runs on solar direct-spark ignition and ships as a complete, in-stock package. Send your flow rate and site details and we will confirm the right unit.
READY TO GET STARTED?
Spec Your Low Flow Flare Today
Our engineers match every unit to your BTU content, flow rate, and site power constraints. No pilot gas or electricity required — get a quote in 24 hours.
Related Flare Systems & Resources
Explore other Hero flare configurations or browse the full product line to find the right match for your application.
Sonic Flares
High-pressure sonic tips deliver efficient smokeless combustion at refineries, gas plants, and high-flow continuous venting operations.
Air Assist Flares
Motor-driven blower assist enables smokeless combustion without steam or high-pressure gas — ideal for wellheads and tank vapor control.
Gas-Assist Flares
Smokeless burning where high-pressure assist gas is available on-site. Adjustable ring design handles varying flow conditions.
Portable Flares
Trailer-mounted flares for well testing, completion flaring, and temporary remote operations. Fast deploy with no site prep required.
Emergency Flares
Fast-deploy utility flares for emergency relief venting and maintenance operations. Reliable auto-ignition, economical cost.
Vapor Combustors
Enclosed VCUs for tank vapor control and wellhead hydrocarbon management. EPA OOOOa/b/c compliant with 98–99.9% DRE.
What Makes a High-Quality Low-Flow Flare System
Low-flow flares and combustors handle waste gas streams too small or intermittent for conventional elevated flares. Achieving consistent 98% DRE at low and variable flow rates — a requirement under EPA OOOOb for storage vessel emissions — requires specific design features that general-purpose flares do not provide.
Stable combustion at minimum flow without pilot extinction. Low-flow combustors must maintain continuous combustion at flow rates as low as 0.1 Mcf/day without relying on the pilot for sustained combustion. Combustor designs that depend on the pilot flame as the primary combustion zone at low flow rates cannot maintain 98% DRE — the pilot is a flame-holder, not a combustion zone.
Refractory lining rated for low-BTU gas. Many tank battery waste gas streams contain CO2 and water vapor that reduce BTU content below 300 BTU/scf. Low-BTU gas requires an insulated combustion chamber with high-temperature ceramic refractory lining to maintain the combustion zone above the minimum temperature required for sustained oxidation of methane and VOCs.
Auto-ignition without operator attendance. Tank batteries on unattended production leases require combustors that automatically reignite after a pilot outage caused by wind, rain, or low-pressure events. High-quality low-flow combustors include a spark-ignited pilot with thermocouple flame monitoring and an automatic re-ignition sequence that activates within minutes of pilot extinction detection.
Internal flow velocity management. Low-flow combustors operating at variable flow rates must maintain internal velocity high enough to prevent blowback but low enough to prevent flameout at the tip. Designs with a fixed-geometry combustion chamber cannot maintain this balance across wide flow ranges; high-quality designs use a combustor geometry that maintains stable combustion from minimum to maximum rated flow.
Enclosure and weather protection for remote siting. Tank battery combustors operate in exposed field conditions. The enclosure, control panel, and ignition system should be rated for the local climate, including wind ratings appropriate for the installation region and low-temperature starting capability for northern operating environments.
What Makes a High-Quality Low-Flow Flare System
Low-flow flares and combustors handle waste gas streams too small or intermittent for conventional elevated flares. Achieving consistent 98% DRE at low and variable flow rates — a requirement under EPA OOOOb for storage vessel emissions — requires specific design features that general-purpose flares do not provide.
Stable combustion at minimum flow without pilot extinction. Low-flow combustors must maintain continuous combustion at flow rates as low as 0.1 Mcf/day without relying on the pilot for sustained combustion. Combustor designs that depend on the pilot flame as the primary combustion zone at low flow rates cannot maintain 98% DRE — the pilot is a flame-holder, not a combustion zone.
Refractory lining rated for low-BTU gas. Many tank battery waste gas streams contain CO2 and water vapor that reduce BTU content below 300 BTU/scf. Low-BTU gas requires an insulated combustion chamber with high-temperature ceramic refractory lining to maintain the combustion zone above the minimum temperature required for sustained oxidation of methane and VOCs.
Auto-ignition without operator attendance. Tank batteries on unattended production leases require combustors that automatically reignite after a pilot outage caused by wind, rain, or low-pressure events. High-quality low-flow combustors include a spark-ignited pilot with thermocouple flame monitoring and an automatic re-ignition sequence that activates within minutes of pilot extinction detection.
Internal flow velocity management. Low-flow combustors operating at variable flow rates must maintain internal velocity high enough to prevent blowback but low enough to prevent flameout at the tip. Designs with a fixed-geometry combustion chamber cannot maintain this balance across wide flow ranges; high-quality designs use a combustor geometry that maintains stable combustion from minimum to maximum rated flow.
Enclosure and weather protection for remote siting. Tank battery combustors operate in exposed field conditions. The enclosure, control panel, and ignition system should be rated for the local climate, including wind ratings appropriate for the installation region and low-temperature starting capability for northern operating environments.
Why Engineers Choose Hero Process Solutions
| What You Need | How Hero Process Solutions Delivers It |
|---|---|
| 98% DRE documentation for permit compliance | In-house combustion engineers provide site-specific performance certifications backed by tip-specific test data |
| Equipment on-site before the compliance deadline | Rental fleet deployable in 24 to 72 hours across the Permian Basin, Mid-Continent, Appalachia, and Rockies |
| Manufacturer that designs its own tips | All combustion tips designed, fabricated, and tested at Hero Process Solutions’ Kellyville, Oklahoma facility |
| Field service when equipment needs attention | Direct HPS field technicians — not third-party contractors — cover major producing regions |
| Equipment for multiple applications | Air-assist, sonic, gas-assist, low-flow, emergency, and portable flares plus vapor combustors and VRUs from one manufacturer |
Hero Process Solutions is a US-based manufacturer and rental provider serving upstream, midstream, pipeline, and industrial clients since the company’s founding under the Hero Flare brand. Contact (918) 941-2166 or email sales@hero-ps.com to discuss your application. Engineering specifications and rental availability are provided within one business day of inquiry.