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DIGITAL NETWORK CONNECTIVITY GROWING IN LEVEL MEASUREMENT APPLICATIONS
A new market study by VDC on the global process level measurement market finds the share of product shipments for continuous measurement with digital network connectivity to be increasing. Representative of this trend are expectations for shipments to markets in North America. This trend is part of the ongoing shift from hardwiring to digital networking of industrial operations. Benefits of digital networking of sensors and sensor systems include: Enhanced Signal Integrity - With higher accuracy, especially for long transmission distances. Elimination of Wiring - Thus simplifying and reducing initial installation and reconfiguration costs. Providing Two-Way Communications - With added functional capability, including enhanced diagnostics, and remote calibration. This reduces maintenance troubleshooting and associated downtime. Further enhancement can include preventative maintenance based on data from sensors. Shipment Trends by Types of Digital Networks In North America, as well as worldwide, by far the most extensively used digital network with these products is HART. Shipment shares with HART interfaces are expected to decline, but to remain by far the most used network interface for many years to come. In North America, Foundation Fieldbus is expected to account for the second largest shipment share in 2009, at about an 11% share. The study found similar expectations for Latin America (Mexico, Central & South America) and the Middle East & African markets, where the Foundation Fieldbus shares in 2009 are expected to be about 13% and 16% respectively in 2000. In Europe, Profibus and Foundation Fieldbus are expected to account for about 11% of shipments each in 2009. The Asia-Pacific market is somewhat different, as the two largest suppliers of these products are Yokogawa, and Yamatake, both of whom offer only proprietary protocols. Combined these products are expected to account for about 37% of shipments in 2009. Even here, however, the HART shipments expected to still be larger in 2009 at over a 43% share. Foundation Fieldbus is expected to account for about a 9% share of this regional market in 2009. The study found current and forecast Ethernet usage to be insignificant for these products. Forecast shipment shares for wireless connectivity in 2009 ranged from being insignificant in the Asia-Pacific region up to 2.7% in North America. These findings for process applications differ considerably from the study findings on Inventory Tank Gauging systems. Inventory Tank Gauging is the use of level measuring for inventory storage and custody transfer applications as opposed to process control. In these systems that tend to be more remote and isolated, larger shipment shares are with wireless technology. There are also small but growing shipment shares of ITG systems with Ethernet connectivity.
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