Leak cost calculator

What one hole in your air system costs per year — from the compressible choked-orifice physics, the same model the simulator uses for leaks. Assumptions stated below the result.

Hole diameter — mm

1 mm ≈ a pinhole hiss · 3 mm ≈ a failed fitting · 5+ mm ≈ a blown hose

Enter a diameter between 0.1 and 20 mm.

Line pressure — bar gauge

Typical plant pressure: 6–8 barg

Enter a pressure between 2 and 16 barg.

Electricity tariff — €/kWh

EU industrial average is roughly €0.15–0.30/kWh

Pressurized hours per year

Leaks run whenever the system is pressurized — often nights and weekends too. 24/7 = 8,760 h.

Compressor specific power — kW per m³/min

≈7 is the textbook figure for a 7-bar screw. This prices the leak's air at full production cost.

Result — choked orifice model

Assumptions: sharp-edged orifice, discharge coefficient 0.62, air at 20 °C, choked (sonic) flow — valid above ≈0.9 barg, which covers every real plant leak. Leak air priced at your compressor's full specific power.

Why "up to": this calculator prices the leak at full line pressure and full specific power — the worst-case ceiling, and the right number for ranking leaks. What a leak really costs on your plant depends on your compressor's control: how much of that flow becomes loaded kWh versus idle time that existed anyway. That's a system response only a full model computes — on the demo plant, this same 3 mm leak comes out at €2,037/yr against this calculator's ≈€4,300 ceiling. Rank with the calculator; defend the number with the model.

Most plants have five to ten of these. Model your actual system — leaks, pipes, compressor control and all — and get the number that survives a CFO meeting.

Model the full system