Analysis: Siemens” New Temp. Transmitters

Siemens’ (www.siemens.com) new line of head-mounted temperature transmitters are the first such systems the company has manufactured itself, a move analyst firm Flow Research (www.flowresearch.com) believes is designed to help better position Siemens in the instrumentation market. Called the Sitrans T-TH Series, the transmitters support applications in the process industries, including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and energy generation. The Sitrans T-TH Series was released on September 15, 2006.

The Sitrans T-TH is available in three different models:
• TH100: An economy digital RTD-only temperature transmitter with a four to 20 mA signal.
• TH200: A universal temperature transmitter that accepts input from RTDs,
thermocouples, resistors, and millivolt sensors.
• TH300: A universal temperature transmitter that accepts input from RTDs,
thermocouples, resistors, and millivolt sensors; also supports the HART
communication protocol and diagnostic functions.

All three models have explosion protection and are intrinsically safe. Siemens has been in the temperature transmitter business for a number of years, but this
is the first time the company has offered products it manufactures.

According to Flow Research, it is very significant that Siemens has entered the temperature transmitter business with its own product. Siemens has been building up its flowmeter line and instrumentation line over the past eight years with multiple acquisitions, including Milltronics, Moore Products, Danfoss, and, most recently, Controlotron. Siemens is already a major player in the pressure transmitter market. Pressure and temperature products are often sold together, so Flow Research believes it makes perfect sense for Siemens to introduce a line of temperature transmitters. The same electronics package, or hockey puck, can be mounted in an explosion-proof field enclosure with an LCD display. This allows a customer to have common spare parts whether the transmitter is mounted in an RTD head, an explosion-proof field housing, or on a DIN rail. The advanced diagnostics and dual-input capability, formerly only available in a field-mounted transmitter, can now be found in a head-mount model. The new product line is expected to add Profibus PA and Foundation Fieldbus support in the near future.

However, Siemens remains without a line of temperature sensors. Some large instrumentation suppliers, such as Yokogawa, choose to buy and resell temperature sensors such as thermocouples and RTDs with their temperature transmitters. Others, such as ABB, manufacture a line of RTDs. As such, Flow Research says it will be interesting to see if Siemens decides to also acquire a temperature sensor company to go along with its new temperature transmitters.

For more information on the temperature transmitter market, visit www.tempflows.com for details on Flow Research’s new study The Market for Temperature Transmitters in the Americas, 2nd Edition.