Keywords: Temperature Transmitter, Field Devices, Process Industry, Multi-input Transmitter, Smart Temperature Transmitter, Temperature Measurement, Global Market Research Report
Recent ARC market research confirms that the increased demand for both enhanced automation and plant asset management (PAM) capabilities continues to drive demand for intelligent field devices. This includes intelligent temperature transmitters, which are widely employed throughout industry. The compelling case that automation and PAM systems provide for increasing both plant efficiency and availability while reducing operational costs helped this market grow even during tough economic times.
The increased focus on automation is also linked to the shortage of skilled labor. With fewer people handling more responsibilities in the plant, the chances of human error increases. As finding skilled labor becomes increasingly challenging, owner-operators are turning to technology suppliers to fill this gap.
Many end users have started investing in asset management systems and intelligent field devices that can communicate with these systems. ARC expects that users of intelligent field devices, like temperature transmitters, will leverage the wealth of information provided by temperature measurement technology, which can not only reveal the health of a company’s plant assets for PAM purposes, but can also help users diagnose their processes.
Increasing Acceptance of Wireless Transmitters
Industrial wireless technology is gaining wide acceptance and many temperature transmitter suppliers have already started adding wireless connectivity to their products. Wireless technology allow users to more easily install field devices to capture previously “stranded” assets. Wireless temperature transmitters can also help users justify replacing their older conventional transmitters with smart wireless devices. As technology suppliers continue to enhance the wireless technology to make it more reliable and easier to maintain, the acceptance of wireless products is increasing. One of the primary reasons industrial users hesitated to implement wireless technology in the past was the short lifespan of batteries used to power wireless devices. Battery suppliers have significantly improved battery life to address this concern. Some models even claim a life of up to 10 years.
Even though battery life has improved, maintaining and replacing batteries of hundreds and thousands of wireless devices in a plant can be a daunting task. Suppliers have started looking at energy-harvesting technologies as a possible long-term solution. Several suppliers have commercialized harvesting technologies in recent years to make it easier and less expensive for end users to maintain their industrial wireless devices.
Many energy harvesting technologies have been commercialized in the industrial sector and temperature transmitters using thermal harvesting are already available to end users. Based on the growing popularity of energy harvesting technologies, ARC expects to see more commercial industrial products with these capabilities. “Use of energy harvesting technologies to power transmitters would help eliminate many of the reliability, cost of replacement, and disposal issues associated with batteries, and further drive acceptance of wireless temperature transmitters,” according to ARC Research Analyst Inderpreet Shoker, principal author of ARC Advisory Group’s new “Temperature Transmitter Global Market Research Study”.
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