Magnetic flowmeters continue to evolve. Here are some of the trends we see.
Ability to measure lower conductivity liquids
Magnetic flowmeter suppliers have cut into the market share of Doppler meters by improving the ability of magnetic flowmeters to measure liquids with lower conductivity values. Part of this success has been due to more advanced signal processing methods and more sophisticated software. This is still an area for ongoing research, and it can be expected that suppliers will continue to be able to measure ever low conductivity liquids. No one has yet made a magnetic flowmeter that will measure the flow of hydrocarbons, however.
Continued advances in liners
Liners are the “secret sauce” in magnetic flowmeters. A wide variety of liners is already available. Liners are especially valuable for sanitary applications, and also for wastewater applications. Despite all the progress that has already been made, expect new types of liners as magnetic flowmeters expand their reach and new applications emerge.
Continued focus on market strengths
Magnetic flowmeters have strong penetration in their areas of strength: liquid measurement in the water & wastewater, chemical, food & beverage, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries. They can handle almost any line size, from the very small to the very large, and excel at sanitary applications due to their ability to incorporate sanitary-friendly liners. While ultrasonic and differential pressure flowmeters are alternatives for some applications, magnetic flowmeters have a large installed base and there does not seem to be a strong movement to alternative technologies.
Given the strength of magnetic flowmeters in the above industries, a frontier of research is to focus on developing more products specifically designed for these industries. One option is to incorporate a control valve with a magnetic flowmeter to provide control as well as measurement Another is to look more closely at the needs of the beverage industry, including breweries and microbreweries, which already use both magnetic and Coriolis meters. Magnetic flowmeters do compete with Coriolis meters in the small line sizes, but magnetic flowmeters have a price advantage there. Developing customized solutions for applications in the five industries mentioned above that may incorporate additional instrumentation could be a winning solution for a magnetic flowmeter company that wants to gain market share.