How much are minute carbon dioxide leaks costing your company ?
There is hardly a week goes past when the inflation rate and the rising living costs are not in the news headlines . Increases are due largely on material cost increases during manufacture . Whilst these increases have varied widely , depending on the product in question , few raw materials will have increased as much as carbon dioxide gas . According to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit , the price of CO 2 rose by as much as 3,000 % in 2022 . Several different factors were to blame for the increase but clearly the ongoing war in Ukraine is a key attributing factor . But the increased price is only part of the issue . During recent years , there have been significant shortages of the gas for use across various industries . In Europe a major portion of CO 2 comes from making ammonia for fertilizer , but the escalating cost of natural gas , due to geopolitical changes , has caused manufacturers to scale
42 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk back production with one industry observer stating that up to 70 % of production has been affected .
As the largest user of CO 2 across the globe , the food and beverage industry has been severely affected by both escalating costs and availability of carbon dioxide gas . The beverage industry alone consumes more than a quarter of the global CO 2 production every year . Add the food segment into the equation and the figure increases significantly .
As a result of these issues , the food and drinks industry is exploring all possible ways of reducing CO 2 consumption . Often stored in bulk tanks , the gas is delivered to various points of use via steel lines often generically referred to as air lines . Traditionally these air lines contain a significant number of screw connections , elbow joints , reducers etc . All these can be prone to leaks over time , allowing gas to escape into the working environment . A single leak might not be considered very significant but as lines get older , it is not uncommon for many joints to develop small leaks that cumulatively give rise to a significant loss of gas . In most centralised systems , the compressor will compensate for the loss by working harder , ensuring that pressure is maintained , therefore drawing more gas from the bulk tank . Of course , although production