FEATURE ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | NOVEMBER 2026 24 used for electricity consumption. Therefore, real-time grid carbon intensity data is obtained from external sources. The software supports API integration to access data from Electricity Maps, Nowtricity, and the ENTSO-E Transparency Platform. This allows both temporal and regional variations in electricity-related emissions to be considered. The total batch footprint is calculated by combining resource consumption with the corresponding time-dependent emission factors throughout the treatment cycle as depicted in Fig. 3. Beyond retrospective reporting, the software also enables batch-specific CO₂ forecasting. By combining treatment schedules, batch data, emission factors, and digital twin models of the production equipment, expected emissions can be predicted before processing. This provides a foundation for optimizing production schedules, selecting low-carbon operating windows, and reducing the overall environmental impact of heat treatment operations. REDUCTION OF PROCESS GAS CONSUMPTION Sustainable heat treatment requires not only a transition to low-carbon energy sources and transparent emissions reporting, but also continuous improvement of process efficiency itself. In atmospheric carburizing, the atmosphere provides the carbon diffusing into the steel surfaces to be hardened. The carbon potential of the atmosphere is controlled by supplying endogas and enrichment gas to the furnace. Conventional control methods estimate carbon potential from oxygen measurements, temperature and assumed endogas composition under the premise that it is being supplied in sufficient quantity. This assumption simplifies the control process but introduces potential inaccuracies, due to different speeds of dilution of the atmosphere. As a result, the amount of supplied endogas is generally higher than needed to ensure a stable process. Fig. 3 — Workflow for aligning process data and emission factors from external sources for emission accounting. Fig. 4 — Comparison of conventional atmosphere control with GreenFlow.
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