Pressure transmitters are one of the most widely used technologies in the process industries because they are well understood, have a gigantic installed base, and are both reliable and accurate. The excellent reliability is one major factor that will drive continued growth in the pressure transducer market, according to a recent study by ARC Advisory Group, Dedham, Mass. ARC predicts a 2.9 percent compound annual growth rate for the worldwide pressure transmitter market over the next five years, with sales rising from $1.27 billion in 2002 to more than $1.47 billion in 2007.
Pressure transmitter performance continues to improve, as reliability, accuracy, long term drift and over range protection keep getting better—particularly with newer high performance versions, the ARC report says. “A new class of high performance transmitter is emerging which ARC is qualifying as having an accuracy specification of +/- 0.05 percent or better,” says Paula Hollywood, an ARC senior analyst and principal author of the report. “For users, the increased reliability of these transmitters will reduce maintenance costs and increase process uptime.”
Besides improved performance, new market drivers will include asset management and online analytics, ARC says. Both are factors that will help spur users to replace or upgrade their existing transmitters, especially in more developed regions of North America and Europe, the report says.
Among other trends, ARC notes that while suppliers are currently offering lifetime warranties on high-end, high-performance transmitters, it is only a matter of time before such warranties are extended to include lower end transmitters as well.
