Study on thermal flowmeters market.

Thermal flowmeters are riding the surge of gas flow measurement in both renewable and traditional natural gas applications, according to a new study from Flow Research, The World Market for Thermal Flowmeters, 3rd Edition. The study found that the worldwide thermal flowmeter market totaled $190 million in 2022 and projects that it will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7 percent per year through 2027. The study expects multipoint thermal meter revenues to grow faster than inline and singlepoint insertion types. It identifies landfill gas and biogas recovery as the fastest growing applications for thermal meters, with biomass fermentation and recovery growing second fastest.

“The future of gas measurement is extremely promising,” says Dr. Jesse Yoder¹, president of Flow Research. “Natural gas is no longer just a bridge to renewables, it is a renewable. As biogas and biogenic methane become more and more mainstream, new opportunities in gas flow measurement are multiplying, and thermal technology is well positioned to take advantage of that trend. Thermal meters aren’t accurate enough for custody transfer measurement, but there are plenty of other applications in the energy chain where they are cost-effective and useful.”

A Wide Range of Applications.
Thermal mass flowmeter technology designs vary more by industry and specific fluid applications than most other types of meters. Important selection factors include the type of gas to be measured, low/high flow conditions, sensor material, approvals, measuring accuracy, available diameters, and pressure and temperature tolerances. Thermal flowmeters, used almost entirely for air and gas flow measurement, are found in a wide range of industries, including oil & gas, chemical, power, and water & wastewater. Applications include flare stacks, nuclear plants, automobile testing lines, natural gas submetering, gasification plants, and compressed air systems. They are used in both traditional and renewable natural gas measurement, including biogas production and creating synthesis gas (syngas).

Frontiers in thermal flowmeter development.
Thermal flowmeters are cost-effective and versatile, respond quickly, and excel at measuring flow at low flowrates. They offer value, high turndown ratio, cost-effectiveness in large line sizes, flexibility for a wide range of gases, and high repeatability. One limitation of thermal flowmeters is that they are used almost entirely for gas flow measurement because of the slow response time involved in using the thermal principle on liquids. Thermal flowmeters need to be calibrated on the type of gas they are measuring, and they need to be calibrated periodically. Condensed moisture in the gas can reduce measurement accuracy, and changes in gas composition can affect measurement accuracy. These limitations are the focus of product development by many thermal suppliers.

A bright spot for thermal meters is multipoint meters, which traditionally have been used to measure flow in large ducts and stacks and are now being used in other applications and smaller line sizes. Greater accuracy can be derived from multiple measuring points. Other enhancements that also improve accuracy include flow conditioners, smart meters, and user-programmable meters that can accommodate changing gas requirements. Today’s thermal meters evolved from hot-wire anemometers The roots of thermal flowmeters go back to the hot-wire anemometers that were used for velocity profile and turbulence research in airflow measurement in the 1960s. Hot-wire anemometers are based on the principle that a heated wire cools as wind passes over it. The anemometer calculates the wind speed based on the heat loss of the wire. Hot wire anemometers have a quick response time but are too fragile for industrial environments.

Thermal flowmeters were first introduced for industrial applications in the 1970s after Dr. Jerome Kurz and Dr. John Olin developed an industrialized version of the hot-wire anemometer. Together they formed Sierra Instruments in 1973. Kurz formed Kurz Instruments in April 1977 and it became the first company to bring industrial thermal flowmeters to market. Fluid Components International (FCI), founded in 1964, developed flow switches to detect the flow of oil through pipes in the oil patch. In 1981, FCI created thermal flowmeters for measuring gas flow by adding more electronics to its switches. A second generation of suppliers appeared in the 1980s and 1990s.

Thermal flowmeters compute mass flow by measuring the effects of cooling on the flowstream, based on the principle that higher velocity flows result in greater cooling. Thermal meters introduce heat into the flowstream and measure how much heat dissipates using one heated sensor and a second sensor that measures the temperature of the flowstream.

This research details market shares and the worldwide supplier market size for thermal flowmeters in 2022 and forecasts market growth through 2027. It also outlines the history and development of thermal flowmeters and their principle of operation, analyzes thermal meter technology, profiles significant supplier companies, and suggests market strategies for suppliers. The study also draws on in-person interviews with Dr. Olin, Dr. Kurz, and Bob Deane and Mac McQueen from FCI. This is the third edition of this study, with previous editions published in 2009 and 2017.

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¹ Dr. Jesse Yoder, founder and president of Flow Research, has written more than 300 articles on flowmeters and other instrumentation for technical publications and has authored four books, including a two-volume set, Advances in Flowmeter Technology, published by CRC Press in 2022 and covering New-Technology Flowmeters and Conventional Flowmeters.

@flowresearch @KurzInstruments  #PAuto #Oil #Gas #FCI

Touch control!

There is an increasing trend towards replacing mechanical knobs, buttons and switches in cars, household appliances and consumer electronic devices. Touch panels and displays with sensor technology are on the rise. In response to this megatrend, Leonhard Kurz has developed series-production ready solutions for the manufacture of decorated plastic components with embedded sensors.

Until now, plastic parts have predominantly been manually equipped with sensors using mainly the expensive OCA (optically clear adhesives) technology. Integration processes developed by Kurz, however, enable sensors to be applied very quickly and economically by machine.

The sensors, including electrical connection (tail), are permanently bonded to the component and are immediately functional. This has been achieved using the PolyTC sensor films developed by the Kurz subsidiary PolyIC. Compared to the ITO (indium tin oxide) films commonly used for sensors, the PolyTC films with high-resolution metal structures on a polyester carrier are significantly more elastic. This makes the sensors more deformable and thus suitable for curved surfaces.

A further advantage of PolyTC films is their high transparency and conductivity. This characteristic makes them ideal for use in automotive cockpits, where plastics with thicknesses of 2.5 and more millimeters may be used. While ITO films are no longer applicable at these thicknesses, PolyTC films remain reliably functional.

Kurz has developed plastic component decoration solutions that are tailored to the application of sensors. When metallic designs are employed, Kurz uses so-called NCVM (non-conductive vacuum metallized) films that do not interfere with the function of the capacitive sensor field. For surfaces with a dead front effect, translucent designs have been developed that are opaque when the illumination is inactive, but allow a backlit control panel to become visible on activation of the sensor. In the case of injection molded parts, a combined process has been developed that enables the component to be decorated and equipped with a sensor film in one shot.

 #Kurz #PAuto #Switches