Plant Utilities worked example

Nitrogen Use Cost at 68% usage assigned to production: a worked example

Suppose usage assigned to production falls to 68%. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimate nitrogen use cost for purge, blanketing, packaging, laser assist, or test operations.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Nitrogen usage: 24,000 scf (held at the documented default)
  • Delivered nitrogen cost: 0.09 $ / scf (held at the documented default)
  • Usage assigned to production: 68 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 95)
  • Cylinder rental and delivery adder: 180 $ (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Total nitrogen use cost = nitrogen usage × delivered nitrogen cost × usage assigned to production + cylinder rental and delivery adder.
  • Total nitrogen use cost works out to 1,649 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Cost per item or period works out to 0.07 $ / item at these inputs.
  • Variable nitrogen use cost works out to 1,469 $ at these inputs.
  • Fixed utility adder works out to 180 $ at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where usage assigned to production sits at 95% and the headline result is 2,232 $, this scenario comes in 26.13% below the baseline at 1,649 $.
  • It computes total nitrogen cost as usage times delivered price times the production share, plus the fixed rental and delivery adder, and divides by usage to give cost per unit. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Total nitrogen use cost: 1,649 $ (headline result)
  • Cost per item or period: 0.07 $ / item
  • Variable nitrogen use cost: 1,469 $
  • Fixed utility adder: 180 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Nitrogen Use Cost calculator, set usage assigned to production to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.