The Cost of Inaccurate CEM Calibration Gases

Utility companies and other users of Continuous Emissions Monitoring (CEM) calibration gases often mistakenly consider them a commodity, making price the primary purchase consideration. Consequently, many are willing to settle for calibration gases that are less accurate than premium calibration gases, as long as they are also less expensive.

But many companies are beginning to see that buying less expensive and potentially inaccurate CEM calibration gases may, ironically, lead to losing hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars! This is because the use of inaccurate calibration gases often leads to the overstatement of emissions that could otherwise be claimed as valuable emission credits which are trading at values ranging from $700 to $2,500 per ton.

For instance, if a company uses a calibration gas mixture that has been inaccurately manufactured and certified with a 100 ppm tag value, but in reality contains only 96 ppm, that company would unwittingly calibrate its CEM incorrectly, and overstate its emission levels. Noting the image below, this inaccurate calibration gas would eventually lead to tons of lost emission credits that could have been sold, banked for future use, or traded for significant dollars. Now, they are lost forever.

Accurate CEM calibration gases not only allow companies to comply with EPA standards, but ultimately save significant amounts of money in emission credits that might otherwise be lost.

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Specialty Gases