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.
Failing to Measure Up
EPA regulations, as stated in the Clean Air Act of 1990, require
that protocol gases used to calibrate CEMs for Nitric Oxide or
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) emissions be within