Four Ways Industry Can Save Natural Gas

Natural gas is an essential resource for many industrial processes, but just as important is the need to optimize usage to reduce costs and minimize environmental impact. That's why many companies use thermal mass flow meters (TMFM), to monitor, control, and improve gas efficiency in various applications.

There are several benefits to using gas mass flow meters, but let's focus on the four primary ways THMFM benefit industries trying to save on their natural gas consumption.

1. Identify Gas Leaks and Improve Process Efficiency

Thermal mass flow meters are finely tuned to detect even slight changes in gas flow, making them essential tool for spotting leaks or inefficiencies in industrial gas lines. This proactive detection helps minimize waste and maintain peak performance.

2. Submetering for cost allocation or identifying unusual usage

The advantage of measuring real-time flow is that it can pick up unusual spikes in gas usage — possibly indicating a shipping bay door was inadvertently left open on a cold day. The meter would report the jump in gas usage in this case, and the company can take corrective action.

Submetering to Track Costs and Pinpoint Issues

By submetering each combustion source, organizations can track gas usage in real time and assign costs accurately. This helps locate excess usage and unusual spikes, such as when a door is left open on a cold day—allowing for quick corrective action.

3. Determine the combustion efficiency of a combustion source

Natural gas is fuel for combustion sources, such as boilers, furnaces, process heaters, kilns, and burners for industrial gas. Flow meters measure air and natural gas flow rates to a combustion source for providing optimum combustion. When too little air is present, unburnt natural gas discharges as carbon monoxide. Whereas, when there is too much oxygen, there is an excessive discharge of heat, which reduces combustion efficiency. Finding the ideal air-to-fuel ratio saves natural gas and provides efficient gas usage at a combustion source.

Enhance Combustion Efficiency

Maintaining the ideal air-to-fuel ratio in combustion sources like furnaces, boilers, or heaters is a key way to save natural gas, money and the environment. Thermal mass flow meters provide precise measurements of air and natural gas flow to optimize combustion, reducing energy waste and enhancing efficiency.

4. Verify Billing Meter Accuracy

Pairing thermal mass flow meters with the supplier’s billing meter can catch discrepancies that might otherwise go unnoticed. Since supplier meters often report only totalized flow, real-time monitoring allows companies to identify inaccuracies and act immediately.

By leveraging the capabilities of a thermal mass flow meter, such as the Sage Paramount, manufactured by Sage Metering, Inc. , companies can significantly cut costs, reduce waste, and improve sustainability efforts.