Tornado Combustion Technologies

Tornado Combustion Technologies designs, fabricates and sells combustion systems for oil and gas and industrial operators across North America and internationally. The company started in 1984 in Stettler, Alberta with an oilfield operator working toward more reliable field equipment, and its first paying job was an ignition system for an existing 6 inch by 90 foot flare stack. A US operations office opened in Alleyton, Texas in 1996, about an hour west of Houston, to fabricate locally for American clients, and the global head office is in Calgary, Alberta.

The company describes its equipment as highly customized, with the application assessed on each request rather than met from a standard catalog. Products are grouped into four families: flares, ignition systems, enclosed combustion equipment and arrestors.

Flares and ignition systems

The flare range covers:

• Utility flares
• Air-assisted flares
• Gas-assisted flares
• Steam-assisted flares
• Sonic flares
• Velocity seals

Ignition products include the Tornado Electric Ignition System and the Tornado Pilot Monitoring and Auto-Relight Systems, which the company builds to suit the flare or combustor they serve.

Enclosed combustion and arrestors

Enclosed combustion equipment covers incinerators and thermal oxidizers, enclosed ground flares and custom burners, built for destruction of waste gases. On the flashback protection side the company supplies detonation arrestors, flame arrestors and combustion air flash cells, and also carries out detonation and flame arrestor cleaning.

Engineering support and equipment upgrades

Engineering support runs as a separate service line covering emissions reduction, fired equipment optimization, functional safety support and compliance support. Existing combustion equipment can be retrofitted, including flare stacks and thermal oxidizers or incinerators, which the company states can help with issues such as:

• Emissions above environmental standards
• Noise complaints
• Excessive radiation
• Odor issues
• Flame instability
• Carbon buildup

Optimization work on fired equipment has included burner modification and replacement, refractory modifications, burner management system upgrades, and fuel gas and carbon tax reduction. The company gives improving destruction removal efficiency, meeting current regulations and codes, and replacing legacy equipment as the usual reasons operators take that work on.

Quality program and certifications

A QA/QC program is registered with the Alberta Boilers Safety Association, the local pressure equipment safety authority in Alberta. Certifications held from accredited bodies in Canada and the United States include:

• U, S, PP, A and R stamps
• ASME Section I, Power Boilers
• ASME Section VIII-1, Pressure Vessels
• ASME B31.1 pressure and boiler external piping
• ASME B31.3 pressure and process piping
• National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors
• CWB certification

Safety association memberships listed are ISNetworld, Complyworks, COR Workplace Safety, Avetta and MHSA.

Parts, service and partners

An inventory of quick replacement parts is kept, including stock pilots and service pilots, and detonation arrestor servicing is offered. Parts can also be manufactured for any piece of equipment the company has built, including items that have to be engineered new.

Some work is delivered through named partners. Primec Controls installs flares and other combustion systems in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and North Dakota, R2 Industrial Services handles flare stack servicing at extreme heights, and manufacturing partner TIW Western shares the company's Canadian facilities.