The Development Trend of Automation Instruments
Industrial automation control instruments mainly include transmitters, regulators, regulating valves and other equipment. Control instruments have gone through stages from base type regulators (integrated instruments for transmission, indication and regulation), to pneumatic and electric unit combination instruments, to computer control systems (DDC), and finally to today's distributed control systems (DCS). DCS has gone through more than 20 years of history, DCS， With its high reliability, convenient configuration software, rich control algorithms, and open networking capabilities, it has rapidly developed and become the mainstream of computer industry control systems. PLC has quickly gained widespread application due to its compact structure, simple functions, fast speed, high reliability, and low price, and has become another mainstream industrial control system on par with DCS. At present, DCS based on PLC is developing rapidly. The mutual infiltration, integration, and competition between PLC and DCS have become the development trend of industrial control systems. DCS has gone through several stages of development, including start-up (1975-1980), maturity (1980-1985), and expansion (after 1985). It has achieved remarkable achievements in improving control functions, information processing capabilities, speed, and configuration software, and has become the mainstream of computer control systems. Nowadays, almost every developed country produces its own DCS, with over 100 manufacturers and tens of thousands of units sold. The main manufacturers are concentrated in multiple companies in the United States, Japan, Germany, etc., such as Honeywell's TDC300, TDC3000X, S9000; Foxboro's I/AS; WDPF of Westin House; ABB's MOD300; CENUM and Mxl of Yokogawa (YOKOY2 W2) in Japan; Hitachi's HIACS3000, 5000; EnermM and SIPAOS200 from Siemens in Germany; BAILEY's N90.
At present, there are about 200 PLC manufacturers in the world, accounting for 30% of the control industry. The main manufacturers include AB Company from the United States, Corning, GE, Siemens from Germany, Teteme Cangue from France, and Omron from Japan; Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. PLC will be integrated with IPC and DCS, gradually becoming the largest product in automation equipment and process control systems. According to American experts' speculation, by the year 2000, PLCs will account for over 50% of control systems.
Fieldbus technology is a rapidly developing network communication technology used in various field automation equipment and their control systems in the 1990s. It is a data communication system used between various field instruments (including transmitters, actuators, recorders, single loop regulators, programmable controllers, process analyzers, etc.) and computer-based control systems. Some speculate that FCS (Fieidbus Control System) based on fieldbus will replace DCS as the protagonist of control systems, and Internet and Intranet technologies will also enter the field of control. Computer automation systems will penetrate into all aspects of enterprises, from production to governance, and even management.
The demand for automation instrument products in the market will grow rapidly. The sales revenue of process automation instrument products in the market reached 46.1 billion US dollars in 1996, and is expected to grow to 59.9 billion US dollars by 2001. It is projected to reach 70 billion US dollars by 2006. The average annual growth rate from 1996 to 2001 was 3.9%, while the average annual growth rate from 2001 to 2006 is expected to reach 4.6%. Calculated at constant prices, the sales revenue for 2006 was $76.1 billion. Mainly used in the glass, ceramic, steel and limited metal industries, steel rolling and aluminum sheet industries, chemical, food and pharmaceutical industries, petrochemical industries, pulp and paper industries, environmental protection, mining, petroleum and natural gas industries, etc.
Of the $46.1 billion spent on automation products, systems, and maintenance in 1996, $40.6 billion was for automation engineering projects and $5.4 billion was for operations. Measurement and automation technology, as new investments, will increase 2-3 times in the modernization of factory technology. By 2006, the market demand for process automation products was as follows: $7 billion for the mining industry, $9 billion for the raw material industry, $36 billion for the process industry, $11 billion for power plants, and $7 billion for the environmental protection industry. In terms of regions, North America accounts for 27.2%, Western Europe accounts for 26%, Asia and Africa (excluding Japan) accounts for 21.1%, Japan accounts for 12.3%, Eastern Europe accounts for 4.7%, South America accounts for 4.9%, and other regions account for 3.7%, indicating the market development prospects of Asia and Africa.