Hot Topics
Your
Temperature Industry Monitor
Flow Research,
27 Water Street, Wakefield, Massachusetts 01880
Welcome to Hot Topics!
Hot Topics is a periodic update on the temperature sensor and
transmitter industry. Our purpose is to
keep you up to date on the temperature industry.
How Do Your Customers Make their Purchasing Decisions?
Do you ever wonder how your customers decide what products
to buy? In the end-user survey
conducted for The Market for Temperature Sensors and Transmitters in the
Americas, we asked users about their information sources. Some questions involve customer use of the
Internet, and other questions have to do with information sources in addition
to the Internet.
Use of the Internet
We asked users of temperature transmitters, thermocouples,
RTDs, thermistors, and infrared thermometers the following question:
Do you use the Internet for help in making your purchase
decisions for temperature sensor and transmitter products? Here are the answers for each product type:
Customer Use of
the Internet for Making Product Decisions
|
Product Type
|
Yes
|
No
|
|
Temperature Transmitters
|
36.8%
|
63.2%
|
|
Thermocouples
|
42.4%
|
57.6%
|
|
RTDs
|
34.1%
|
65.9%
|
|
Thermistors
|
23.3%
|
76.7%
|
|
Infrared Thermometers
|
26.8%
|
73.2%
|
About the Editor
Jesse Yoder, PhD, has 13
years experience as an analyst and writer in process control. He
specializes in flowmeters and temperature products. Prior to founding Flow Research, Yoder
served as an analyst for several
other market research companies. He
has written over 25 market research studies in industrial automation and
process control, and published numerous articles on field devices in
industry journal. Besides doing
market research, he is actively researching new ways to measure temperature
and flow, using the onsite flow and temperature laboratory at Flow
Research.
|
|
We also asked temperature users if they actually order
products on the Internet. For
thermocouples, only two percent said yes, while 98 percent said no. For the other temperature products, 100
percent said no. Even though many
temperature companies have websites, it will take time for people to adapt to
this new medium. Commodity items sell
more readily online.
Other Information
Sources
We also asked temperature users to list sources of
information other than the Internet that they use in making purchasing
decisions. Their answers are given in
Figure 1.
Figure 1. Sources
of Purchasing Information for Temperature Users
Other = 19.6%
Note: Total does not
equal 100 percent due to multiple entries
How You Can Use this
Information
The top information sources for temperature
users are catalogs, the Internet, and trade magazines. You can capitalize on two of these trends by
putting your catalog on the Internet.
Many companies also make their catalogs available in CD-Rom form.
Trade magazines are another major source of
information for temperature users. You
can reach their readers in several ways: advertising in the printed or online
versions, writing articles for publication for these magazines, and sending
press releases on your products to the magazines. The following is a list of trade journals that cover
temperature. Many are available at no
charge:
Control (Itasca, IL) 630-467-1300; http://www.controlmagazine.com/
Control Engineering (Oak Brook, IL) 630-320-7000; http://www.controleng.com/
I&CS (Broomall, PA) 610-325-8190; http://www.icsmagazine.com/
InTech (Research Triangle Park, NC) 919-549-8411; http://www.isa.org/
Measurements & Control (Sarasota, FL)
941-366-1153; http://www.mac-med.com/
Pipeline & Gas Journal (Houston, TX)
281-558-6930; http://www.undergroundinfo.com/
Sensors (Peterborough, NH) 603-924-9631; http://www.sensorsmag.com/
An Overview of Infrared Products and Technology
Infrared sensors represent the fastest-growing segment of
the temperature market. Yet infrared
technology is not well understood.
Unfortunately, much of the written material on the subject is highly
technical. What is infrared, and what
types of products are available?
Sir William Herschel discovered infrared radiation 200
years ago in 1800. He experimented with
sunlight directed through a glass prism to create the colors of the
rainbow. He placed a thermometer in the
path of each color of light. Herschel
found that the thermometer temperatures increased from the violet to the
red. He then decided to measure the
temperature beyond the red portion of the spectrum, where there was no
sunlight. Herschel found out that the
temperatures were even higher in this area, due to the presence of infrared
radiation.
The electromagnetic spectrum is a group of waves of
different type, including gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet light, visible light,
infrared radiation, microwaves, and radio waves. The term ‘infrared’ means “below red,” and it reflects the fact
that infrared waves are found next to red light waves on the
electromagnetic. Infrared waves are
longer than visible light waves.
A wide range of infrared products is available, including infrared
thermocouples, infrared thermometers, infrared linescanners, and thermal
imaging systems.
Infrared thermocouples are not actually
thermocouples. Instead, they are a type
of thermometer that contains an infrared detector. The output from infrared thermocouples emulates the output from
particular thermocouple types. Thus you
can replace a thermocouple such as a type K or J with an infrared
thermocouple. Different thermocouple
models are designed to match particular temperature requirements. Exergen (Watertown, MA) was the first
company to receive a patent on infrared thermocouples, in 1992.
Many infrared thermocouples contain a sensing detector
called a thermopile. A thermopile is an
array of thermocouple junctions that are connected together. The thermopile contains a black material
that absorbs infrared radiation.
Temperature increases in proportion to the amount of infrared radiation
absorbed, and the thermocouple junctions produce a corresponding voltage
output. Dexter Research Center (Dexter,
Michigan) is a major supplier of infrared sensing thermopile detectors. Dexter’s thermopiles are hermetically sealed
in an atmosphere of inert gas.
Infrared thermometers are available in both
portable and fixed models. To use a
portable model, you simply point and shoot.
These thermometers display the temperature of whatever material or
object is pointed at. Some have
circular laser sighting. These models
use a red circular display to highlight the area whose temperature is being
measured. Applications include
measuring the temperature of steam traps, furnaces, automobile engines,
electrical circuits, heat treating, food transportation, and plastics.
Fixed infrared thermometers, also called online
thermometers, measure the temperature of objects in a fixed location. One use for fixed infrared thermometers is
measuring temperature in a process control loop. They are available in a variety of operating wavelengths and
output signals. Infrared thermometer
suppliers include Raytek (Santa Cruz, CA), Ircon (Niles, IL), Omega Engineering
(Stamford, CT), and Mikron Instrument Company (Oakland, NJ).
Infrared linescanners scan a line at a time instead
of a point. They contain an infrared
thermometer, a rotating mirror, and additional electronics. Output from the linescanner can be sent to a
personal computer, where a thermal surface map is displayed. Linescanners are used in the manufacturing
of flat glass, glass windshields, and in metals manufacturing.
Thermal imaging systems are very much like
cameras. Instead of taking the
temperature at a point, or scanning line-by-line, thermal imagers display an
infrared image of a complete scene.
They are available in both portable and fixed models. Portable models work very much like a video
camera. One major application of
portable systems is in predictive and preventive maintenance. Suppliers include Flir Systems and Land
Instruments (Bristol, PA).
The picture to the left is an infrared image of a bolted
electrical connection. The lighter
areas show a hot spot. Portable
imagers can detect the presence of hot spots in electrical equipment. They are also used in fire fighting to
see through the smoke and detect the presence of people or animals inside
the fire. Picture courtesy of Flir
Systems (Portland, OR).
|
|
Fixed thermal imaging systems are used in online
manufacturing environments, including the steel and glass industries. They can identify temperature thresholds and
set off alarms. Because they have rapid
temperature feedback, they are used to control industrial processes.
Mikron Instrument Company Acquires E2 Technology
Mikron Instrument Co. announced on May 5, 2000 that it has
agreed to acquire E2 Technology (Ventura, CA).
E2T is a privately held company that manufactures infrared point
temperature thermometers. E2T
specializes in supplying the petroleum, petrochemical, and chemical
industries. E2T’s manufacturing and
engineering operations will be relocated to Mikron’s facility in Oakland, New
Jersey. Ernest Emery, owner and CEO of
E2T, will remain with the company in a consulting capacity. Mikron, a public company, was founded in
1969.
Temperature Sensor and Transmitter Study Now Available
The end-user survey data on pages and two was taken from
our new study, The Market for Temperature Sensors and Transmitters in the
Americas. This study represents a
year of research by Flow Research and Ducker Research. In conducting the study, we interviewed over
250 temperature suppliers and 132 end-users of temperature products. If you are in the temperature business,
then you must have this study. For
more information, contact Flow Research at 781-224-7550 or visit our website at
http://www.flowresearch.com/.
Flow Research is following up with a study of the
worldwide infrared thermometer and thermal imaging systems market. It includes all the infrared products
described in this newsletter. This
study will be available in July.
Contact Flow Research for more information about this study.
Hot Topics is published by Flow Research, 27 Water
Street, Wakefield, MA 01880.
(781) 224-7550; Fax: (781) 224-7552 Copyright Ó 2000
by Flow Research
Editor: Jesse Yoder Research
Assistant: Adele Coppola
