Innovations Dominate Flow Measurement Market

When flowmeters are used to measure flow, they measure one of a number of fluid types. One common way to divide up fluid types is between liquid, gas and steam. These types can be further subdivided. Types of liquid include oil, water and industrial liquids.

Types of gas include natural gas, industrial gases and greenhouses gases. However, each of these types can be broken down into more specific gases. For example, types of industrial gases include oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Steam is often divided into wet, saturated and superheated.

Gas flow measurement has become increasingly important with rising oil prices. Natural gas has not undergone the same price increases as oil. Natural gas is cleaner and also less expensive than oil. And increasingly, natural gas is seen as a long-term bridge to renewable fuels. This is because natural gas is more plentiful than oil and new technologies make it possible to extract natural gas from locations where it was formerly not possible to obtain the natural gas. As a result of new drilling technologies and new natural gas finds, the world has sufficient natural gas for the next 100 years or more.

Even though natural gas is still a fossil fuel, it does not have the same environmental impact as oil or coal. This is important today because renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind power are still in their early stages of development. They remain attractive but still expensive alternatives to fossil fuels. This will change over time as more R&D is done and the technology improves. Until then, natural gas will remain an attractive alternative to other fossil fuels and to renewable forms of energy.

Oil And Gas Measurement
As is the case with many flowmeter industries and applications, flow measurement in the oil and gas industry is a battleground between new-technology flowmeters and traditional technology meters. The main types of flowmeters used for oil and gas measurement include Coriolis, ultrasonic, vortex and thermal. Among traditional technology flowmeters, differential pressure (DP), positive displacement and turbine flowmeters do the bulk of the measurement.

While advantages and disadvantages differ with the technology, new-technology flowmeters generally have less pressure drop, higher reliability and lower maintenance than traditional meters. Traditional flowmeters typically have moving parts and require more maintenance than new-technology meters. In many cases, however, traditional meters have the advantage in installed base.

A great deal of change has been occurring in the flowmeter markets in the past few years as suppliers respond to end-user requirements and to shifting market needs. This is especially true in oil and gas measurement. Higher oil prices have meant that end-users are looking for higher accuracy and greater reliability in their flowmeters used to measure oil flow. And even though natural gas prices have remained relatively stable, increased demand for natural gas has generated greater demand for flowmeters that reliably and accurately measure natural gas, especially in measurement of gas flow in large pipelines.

Total Shipments of All Gas Flowmeters Worldwide (in Millions of Dollars)