Laser Cutting Gas Cost Calculator

Multiply the gas consumption (m³/h) by the gas price per m³ to get the hourly cost, and divide by 60 for the cost per minute. For example, 18 m³/h of nitrogen at $0.35/m³ costs $6.30 per hour, or about $0.11 per minute.

Measuring is most accurate: read the liquid tank level at the start and end of a period, convert the litres used into m³ with the conversion factor and divide by the cutting hours in that period. Without a measurement, you can scale a known nozzle, pressure and consumption from your machine maker's table to your own nozzle diameter and pressure.

At high pressure, consumption rises roughly with the square of the nozzle diameter and with the absolute pressure. Going from a 1.5 mm to a 2 mm nozzle increases consumption about 1.78 times; raising the pressure from 14 to 16 bar increases it about 1.13 times. This does not apply to low-pressure oxygen cutting.

One litre of liquid nitrogen gives about 0.69 m³ of gas and one litre of liquid oxygen about 0.85 m³; the exact value depends on the reference temperature and pressure. Confirm the factor with your supplier so that it matches the unit on your invoice.

Instead of a gas bill, count the compressor's electricity: compressor power (kW) × load factor × electricity price per kWh gives the hourly cost. For example, a 15 kW compressor at 70% load and $0.28/kWh costs about $2.94 per hour, roughly $0.05 per minute; add dryer and filter maintenance separately.

Enter the hourly gas cost in the gas line of the machine hourly rate calculator, or add the per-minute amount to your rate. Keeping separate rates for oxygen, nitrogen and compressed air makes quotes for jobs with different gases more accurate.