8 October 2009

New technologies will lead industry to new heights

By Gregory Hale

It is very easy to get caught up in the never ending swirl of bad economic news.

After all, the naysayers just think the industry will never be the same again. They are right, it won’t; instead, it will come back stronger. The economy will eventually get back to normal, and the industry will recover to the growth enjoyed in the past few years. But to get to that level, new products and innovative technologies need to fight to get to market.

But just what technologies are going to help push the industry forward depends on who you talk to.

“Hall Effect sensors are a big part of our interests,” said Wayne Goodwyn, of Texas Digimeter in Spring, Tex. “We produce gauges, and we’re looking at pressure elements for digital and position sensing.”

“What we’re looking for are sensor probes to detect and measure oxygen and moisture,” said Randall Laird, ExxonMobil, Baytown, Tex.

“We’re concerned with anything that has to do with software and hardware relating to control technology,” said Sam Phan of CBI. “We have vendors in mind that we want to see, and a one-stop solution would be nice.”

Sallyanne Ofner, president of start-up company, Levelese, said her tank gauge sensor and display for tank level measurement is resonating with users in the market. It had to as the company continues to survive after this difficult economic environment. “It is simple for them to use. If something goes wrong, they can fix it on their own,” Ofner said.

“People have to have level instruments,” she said. “If the instrument fails after 20 years, they have to replace them.”

Edson Bortoni of the Instituto de Sistemas Electricos e Energia in Brazil said he really likes a new ultrasonic flowmeter. “Usually you see an ultrasonic flowmeter with five paths, but this one has 18. That is very good.”

The technology it seems everyone wants to talk about is wireless.

National Instruments’ Todd Walter said wireless was very popular with users.

Tannis Andrews-Causey of GE Energy agreed. Their new product is now able to get readings from remote areas they previously could not get. “The wireless product allows for temperature and vibrations readings that were previously inaccessible from remote areas,” she said.

“New wireless technology overcomes the barriers,” said Sean Coyle, GE Energy product manager Bently Nevada Asset Condition Monitoring Optimization and Control.

“What the industry needed was a secure, robust technology, and we have overcome that,” Coyle said.

Nicholas Sheble contributed to this report.