CO2 consumption monitoring in gas and compressed air systems

CO2 consumption in factories is a key cost and sustainability driver. Yet in many factories, CO2 and other gas flows are still estimated rather than measured. This makes it difficult to allocate costs, quantify leaks, and prove savings in ISO 50001 reports. With the right flow metering approach, you can turn your gas lines into transparent, manageable utilities and support both uptime and decarbonisation goals.

CO2 consumption as a critical energy and utility KPI

For most plants, CO2 is no longer just a process medium. It is also a reportable energy-related utility that influences your carbon footprint and operating cost. When you track gas usage with the same discipline as electricity, you gain the data you need for energy management, maintenance planning, and process optimisation.

In practice, engineers often rely on supplier invoices or bottle counts as a proxy for real usage. However, this hides where the gas is actually used, how much is lost via leaks and purging, and which lines show abnormal behaviour over time. By installing mass flow flow meters, you can create a continuous, high-resolution picture of how CO2 moves through your network.

Linking those measurements into your existing PLC, BMS, or energy management system, lets you treat CO2 like any other monitored utility. As a result, it becomes much easier to justify improvement projects and to verify the impact afterwards.

From estimation to measurement: building a CO2 flow monitoring concept

To move from rough estimation to reliable numbers, you need a clear monitoring concept. This starts with mapping your CO2 generation or supply, the main distribution headers, and the critical users such as packaging, blanketing, welding, or cooling. Then, you decide at which points to measure flow, pressure, and where needed, temperature.

A practical approach is to start with a master meter at the main supply and then add sub-metering on key branches. Therefore you can perform a balance: what comes in versus what is billed to the production areas. The difference highlights technical losses such as leaks, blow-offs, or malfunctioning equipment.

When selecting sensors, consider the expected flow range, pressure, and temperature. Thermal mass flow meters or differential pressure-based solutions are common choices for technical gases. However, you should also consider installation conditions such as straight pipe lengths and accessibility for maintenance.

It is useful to combine CO2 and compressed air flow monitoring in one harmonised concept. If you already monitor airflow, expanding to gases using similar hardware and software reduces engineering effort. Products such as in-line flow meters can support multiple gases and provide standard signals for integration.

Turning data on gas usage into actionable insights

Once you have reliable flow and pressure data, the real value lies in turning numbers into decisions. Visualising trends over time, per line, and per product family is essential. When you connect your meters to a central platform, you can create dashboards that show, for example, gas usage per shift, per production line, or per tonne of product.

For energy managers working with ISO 50001, this enables proper energy performance indicators (EnPIs). You can relate CO2 usage to production volume and finally demonstrate genuine efficiency improvement rather than just production-driven fluctuations. In audits, this level of transparency is a strong point of evidence.

Maintenance engineers benefit from the same data in a different way. Abnormal baseloads or sudden spikes often indicate leaks, stuck valves, or incorrect machine settings. Because the data is continuous, you do not need to wait for monthly invoices to discover deviations. Instead, you can set alarms or thresholds that trigger an investigation when consumption behaviour changes.

Reducing waste, leaks and unnecessary purging

After you have visibility, the next step is reduction. In many factories, a significant share of CO2 and compressed air is lost through leaks and unnecessary purging routines. These losses are often accepted as normal because they are not quantified.

With sub-metering in place, you can compare consumption during production and during standstill. A high night or weekend baseline usually indicates leaks or equipment left in purge mode. Therefore, a simple leak-tagging campaign combined with follow-up measurement can deliver fast savings.

Additionally, you can evaluate the settings of purging, flushing, and cleaning cycles. Shortening or optimising these routines, supported by data, often leads to meaningful reductions without any negative impact on process quality or safety.

Integration into PLC, SCADA and reporting workflows

To avoid creating a separate data silo, it is important to integrate gas flow meters into existing automation systems. Most modern meters provide standard outputs such as 4–20 mA, Modbus, or digital protocols. Therefore, you can bring them into your PLC or SCADA alongside other process variables.

When combined with an energy monitoring platform, you can automate reports and allocate consumptions to cost centres or production orders. This not only supports ISO 50001 documentation but also makes costs visible on the shop floor. Production teams then see the direct link between operating decisions and utility usage.

Finally, measurement data enables better investment decisions. For example, you can correctly size storage tanks, vaporizers, and distribution lines based on measured peak and average flows rather than on oversized rules of thumb. This reduces both capital and operating costs over the life of the system.

In summary, turning your gas network into a measured, transparent utility will help you control CO2 consumption, reduce losses, and strengthen your energy performance. If you want to explore practical metering options for your plant, visit our measurement products overview and discover how VPInstruments can support your next optimisation step.