Flow Research
27 Water Street
Wakefield, MA
01880
(781) 245-3200
(781) 224-7552 (fax)
Contacts: Belinda Burum, Flow Research: (781) 245-3200 - belindab@flowresearch.com
Nick Limb, Ducker Worldwide: (248) 644-0086 - nickl@ducker.com
For immediate release
Wakefield, Massachusetts, February 20, 2002 — The
worldwide magnetic flowmeter market is expected to show solid growth over the next
several years, according to a recent study from Flow
Research and Ducker Worldwide
(Bloomfield Hills, MI). The study,
called The World
Market for Magnetic Flowmeters, finds that magnetic flowmeters generate
more revenues worldwide than any other type of flowmeter. While ultrasonic
and Coriolis
flowmeters are growing at a faster rate, the installed base of magnetic
flowmeters gives magnetic flowmeters the edge in terms of total revenues
generated. Worldwide sales of
magnetic flowmeters totaled $574 million in 2000, and are projected to grow to
$716 million in 2005. This
represents a compound annual growth rate of 4.5 percent.
Why are magnetic flowmeters so popular?
One reason is that they are very widely used in Europe.
Magnetic flowmeters were first introduced in Holland in 1952.
Since that time, they have become the flowmeter of choice in Europe.
Water is a highly valued resource in Europe, and magnetic flowmeters are
widely used to measure water. The
food processing and pulp & paper industries, which widely use magnetic
flowmeters, are prevalent industries in Europe.
The top three suppliers of magnetic flowmeters are based in Europe. Europeans also seem quite willing to adopt new technologies.
All these reasons contribute to the popularity of magnetic flowmeters in
Europe.
Advantages of Magnetic Flowmeters
Magnetic
flowmeters also have some very important advantages.
Most introduce little or no pressure drop.
Insertion meters are an exception to this, but even these introduce only
a limited amount of pressure drop. Magnetic
flowmeters are highly accurate at a time when many flowmeter users are looking
for high accuracy. Published
accuracies for many magmeters are in the 0.5 percent range.
Many different types of liners are available that are specific to
different applications. Newer DC
type magmeters have eliminated problems related to zero-calibration that
occurred earlier with AC type meters.
“Magnetic flowmeters have a good
reputation for reliability and accuracy in a market that is driven by both of
those factors,” according to Dr. Jesse Yoder of Flow
Research. “Magnetic
flowmeters have significant advantages over traditional-technology flowmeters. Unlike differential pressure (DP) meters, especially orifice
plate, magnetic meters do not have a primary element that can wear and
significantly degrade measurement accuracy.
They have no moving parts, unlike turbine and positive displacement
meters. This eliminates a potential
source of wear that these flowmeters are subject to,” Yoder said.
“Magnetic flowmeters also have advantages over other
new-technology meters,” Yoder continued.
“Unlike vortex
flowmeters, magnetic flowmeters do not place an obstruction into the
flowstream. Insertion magnetic
meters are an exception to this, of course.
Magnetic flowmeters may be preferred to Coriolis
flowmeters when pressure drop is a consideration. They also do not have the same type of line size constraints
that Coriolis meters have, since they can be placed in lines of almost any size.
Coriolis meters become unwieldy and expensive to use in pipe sizes over
four inches, and the majority are used on pipes of two inches or less.
Magnetic flowmeters have a price advantage over Coriolis meters.
They also have an accuracy advantage over multivariable
DP flowmeters,” Dr. Yoder concluded.
Installed Base is Key Factor
Probably the single biggest factor that will sustain growth
in the magnetic flowmeter market is installed base. Many companies have invested very heavily in magnetic
flowmeter technology, and are not likely to abandon this investment for another
type of meter. The most severe
limitation on the use of magmeters is their inability to meter nonconductive
fluids. Apart from this, they will
remain the king of the flowmeter hill, in terms of revenues, for at least the
next few years.
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 15 years’ experience as a writer and analyst
in process control, founded flow Research in 1999.
The company recently completed a series of six market studies on
new-technology flowmeters, comprising over 3,000 pages.
In addition to market research, Flow Research conducts technical research
on flowmeters in its flowlab.
Flow Research is
partnering with Ducker Worldwide
(Bloomfield Hills, MI) to produce a series of 12 market studies on flowmeters,
covering all the flow technologies. The
World Market for Magnetic Flowmeters was produced as the part of this
series. The first six of these
studies, which cover the new-technology flowmeter market, are complete. Ducker Worldwide has 40 years’ experience researching
industrial and business markets, and has offices throughout the world.
Flow Research can provide charts and graphics from The World Market for
Magnetic Flowmeters upon request.
Flow Research
recently announced a new service called the Worldflow
Monitoring Service that includes Quarterly Reports on the flow and
process industries. These Quarterly
Reports are called the Market Barometer,
the Process Industry Monitor, and the User
Perspective. It also
includes a centralized “Living
Database” of detailed product information from most suppliers of
flowmeters worldwide. Flow Research and Ducker
Worldwide are partnering on the user surveys that are part of the Worldflow
Monitoring Service.
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