Flow
Research, Inc.
27 Water Street
Wakefield, MA 01880
(781) 245-3200
(781) 224-7552 (fax)
Contacts: Jesse Yoder, Flow Research: (781) 245-3200 – jesse@flowresearch.com
Nick Limb, Ducker Worldwide: (248) 644-0086 - nickl@ducker.com
For immediate release
New Flow Research Study Predicts Strong Growth for Coriolis Flowmeters
Wakefield, Massachusetts; September 23, 2003 — The
Coriolis flowmeter market continues to grow, despite the economic woes of
the past several years. This is one finding in a new market study from
Flow Research (www.flowresearch.com)
called The World Market for Coriolis Flowmeters.
Worldwide sales of Coriolis flowmeters totaled $435 million in
2002. Revenues are projected
to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 7.6 percent through
2007, when they are expected to reach $627 million.
This makes Coriolis flowmeters the second fastest growing
flowmeter, behind only ultrasonic meters.
Despite projections for strong Coriolis flowmeter
growth, sales of Coriolis flowmeters were up by only six percent in 2002
from their year 2000 value. This
represents an average annual growth rate of only three percent per year,
which is modest growth for what is normally a fast-growing flowmeter. This
shows that Coriolis flowmeters were not exempt from the effects of the
economic downturn that has afflicted many of the instrumentation and
process control markets over the past several years.
Projections for stronger future growth for Coriolis meters are
based in part on the improving economic climate.
Accuracy and reliability are still the strongest
driving forces behind the worldwide Coriolis flowmeter market. While
Coriolis flowmeters typically have a higher purchase price than almost any
other type of flowmeter, they earn this back over time through reduced
installation and maintenance costs. Unlike
positive displacement and turbine meters, they do not have moving parts
that are subject to wear over time, apart from their vibrating tube. And
unlike pressure transmitters with orifice plates, they do not have
components that can be knocked out of position or are intrusive to the
flowstream in the way that orifice plates are.
Coriolis flowmeters remain the most accurate
flowmeter. This is why they
are often the meter of choice for custody transfer applications. A number
of organizations have written standards that apply to the use of Coriolis
flowmeters for custody transfer and billing applications.
If end-users need or simply want very high accuracy, they will
often select a Coriolis flowmeter. Coriolis flowmeters are more accurate
than most other new-technology flowmeters, including magnetic, ultrasonic,
and vortex.
Users also select Coriolis flowmeters when they want
a mass flow measurement. This
is often the case in the chemical industry, and in other process
industries. Coriolis meters
give a direct, rather than an inferred, mass flow measurement.
In some cases, users may also select a turbine meter along with a
densitometer to compute mass flow measurement.
Another option is to use a multivariable differential pressure
transmitter that also measures pressure and temperature and computes mass
flow.
Size restrictions remain the most severe limitation
of Coriolis flowmeters. Coriolis meters larger than two inches become
expensive and unwieldy. While some six-inch Coriolis flowmeters are sold,
move than 90 percent of all Coriolis meters sold are of size two inches or
smaller. Until this size
problem is solved, Coriolis flowmeters will remain more complementary to
than competing with ultrasonic flowmeters.
Ultrasonic flowmeters perform best in line sizes of four inches and
above.
Flow Research, Inc.
Flow Research is a market
research company that specializes in providing market data and strategies
on flowmeters and other measurement devices.
Dr. Jesse Yoder, who has 16 years’ experience as a writer and
analyst in process control, founded Flow Research in 1998. The company recently completed a series of ten market studies
on the worldwide flowmeter market, including Volume I, The World Market
for Coriolis Flowmeters. Other
studies are individual volumes on the worldwide ultrasonic, magnetic,
vortex, positive displacement, and turbine flowmeter markets. Volume
IX, The World Market for Pressure Transmitters, will be published in
the next few weeks. Volume
X, The World Market for Flowmeters, includes all ten flow technologies
in a single volume..
Flow Research is
partnering with Ducker Worldwide (Bloomfield Hills, MI) to produce a
series of ten market studies on flowmeters, covering all the flow
technologies. Ducker
Worldwide has 40 years’ experience researching industrial and business
markets, and has offices throughout the world.
Another service provided
by Flow Research is the Worldflow Monitoring Service. This Worldflow service includes monthly reports on the flow
and process industries. These
reports include the Worldflow Barometer, Worldflow
Monitor, and Worldflow Perspective.
The service is designed to provide up-to-date information between
market studies.
Note: This press release can also be viewed along with a chart by selecting the PDF file available at http://www.flowresearch.com/news.html. Flow Research can provide additional chart from the Coriolis and from other studies upon request.