The World Market for Magnetic Flowmeters, 7th Edition

This important 526-page study reveals the size of the worldwide magnetic flowmeter market, including the market shares of all major suppliers, and forecasts the market through 2024. The study provides:
• 2019 and 2020 market size in US dollars and unit volume for magnetic flowmeters worldwide market data for 2021
• Market shares of the leading suppliers of magnetic flowmeters worldwide
• Forecast of the growth market for magnetic flowmeters in dollars and unit volumes through 2024
• Segmented data both on a worldwide basis and for each of 8 global regions
• Product analysis for all of the primary suppliers selling into the magnetic flowmeter market
• Industries and applications where magnetic flowmeters are used, including market growth sectors
• Market and product strategies for suppliers of magnetic flowmeters worldwide
• Company profiles for the significant suppliers of magnetic flowmeters worldwide

Magnetic flowmeters, among the most widely used types of flowmeters for measuring the flow of water and other liquids, have been around for more than 50 years.  The Tobinmeter Company first introduced magnetic flowmeters for commercial use in Holland in 1952.  Foxboro (now part of Schneider Electric) introduced them to the United States in 1954. Since this time, more than 60 suppliers worldwide have come to offer magnetic flowmeters for sale.  

#1 in revenues

Magnetic flowmeters generate more revenues worldwide than any other type of flowmeter. The story is different in terms of units, however. More positive displacement, turbine, DP, and variable area flowmeters are sold annually. Despite this, the higher average selling price of magnetic flowmeters enables them to generate more revenues annually.

Magnetic flowmeters are most widely used in the water & wastewater and chemical industries, which generate about half of magmeter revenues.  Mageters are also widely used in the food & beverage and pharmaceutical industries, which often require flowmeters to conform to sanitary requirements.  Flowmeter suppliers meet these requirements in part by placing sanitary liners inside the meters.

Greater conductivity

The inability of magnetic flowmeters to measure nonconductive liquids will always be a barrier to their use in the oil & gas and refining industries, barring some unforeseen technological breakthrough. However, suppliers have succeeded in reducing the amount of conductivity required to measure flow, in part by boosting the amount of power used to excite the magnetic coils, thereby creating a stronger signal. By pushing back the boundaries of conductivity, suppliers are making magnetic flowmeters usable in a broader range of applications. 

Popular in Europe

Magnetic flowmeters are especially popular in Europe, where they were first introduced and where the top three magnetic flowmeter suppliers today are based. Water is a highly valued resource in Europe, and magmeters are widely used to measure the flow of water. Food processing and pulp & paper are both very prevalent industries in Europe, and magmeters are heavily used in both of these industries.

Europeans also seem to show a preference for spoolpiece over clamp-on meters, and most magnetic flowmeters are of the inline type, whether wafer or flanged. There are no clamp-on magnetic meters, but there are clamp-on ultrasonic meters, and ultrasonic meters are an alternative to magmeters for some applications. 

Learn more about New-Technology Flowmeters:

Future Development

Measuring Liquids with Lower Conductivity Values

Through making magnetic flowmeters better at measuring liquids with lower conductivity values, magnetic flowmeter suppliers have reduced the market share of Doppler meters. More complex software and more recent signal processing techniques have contributed to some of this achievement. Research in this field is currently underway, thus it is to be expected that vendors will be able to test liquids with ever-lower conductivity in the future. However, no magnetic flowmeter capable of measuring the flow of hydrocarbons has yet been created.

Liners -- the 'secret sauce' of magnetic flowmeters

Liners enables magmeters to measure both very dirty and very clean liquids. With the appropriate liner option, they can measure the dirty liquids and slurries common to the pulp & paper and wastewater industries, as well as the hygienic and sanitary liquids common to the food & beverage and pharmaceutical industries. 

Of the nine main types of liners for magnetic flowmeters the most dominant are PFA (perfluoroalkoxy), PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) -- Teflon® is a familiar trade name for PTFE made by DuPont -- and hard rubber. Hard rubber is widely used for water & wastewater applications. 

Liners increase magnetic flowmeters' durability and reliability, and make it possible to use them with almost any type of liquid. No other flowmeter that measures liquids has such versatility when it comes to the material in the flowmeter that makes contact with the liquid.

The "secret ingredient" in magnetic flowmeters comprises liners. There are currently a lot of different liners available. Liners are particularly useful for wastewater applications as well as sanitary ones. Notwithstanding all the advancements so far, new types of liners should continue to be developed as magnetic flowmeters find new applications .

A Continued Focus on Market Strengths

In their core competencies—liquid measurement in the water & wastewater, chemical, food & beverage, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries—magnetic flowmeters are widely used. Due to their capacity to incorporate sanitary-friendly liners, they excel at sanitary applications and can handle practically any line size, from the very small to the very big. While magnetic flowmeters have a sizable installed base and there does not appear to be a substantial shift to alternative technologies, ultrasonic and differential pressure flowmeters offer alternatives for particular applications.

Given the prominence of magnetic flowmeters in the aforementioned industries, one area of study is to concentrate on creating new goods especially for these sectors. One possibility is to combine a magnetic flowmeter with a control valve to offer both measurement and control. Another is to pay closer attention to the requirements of the beverage sector, particularly those of breweries and microbreweries that already employ both magnetic and Coriolis meters. In the smaller line sizes, magnetic flowmeters do compete with Coriolis meters, but they are more affordable in these applications. For a magnetic flowmeter company looking to expand its market share, creating specialized solutions for applications in the five industries outlined above that may include extra instrumentation could be the key to success.

For further information, including detailed market reports, please see www.FlowMags.com.