With features such as high functionality, reduced cabling, simple networking and easy maintenance, fieldbus devices have significant growth opportunities in the process automation market in Europe, says a study entitled European Fieldbus Market from Frost & Sullivan. The need of advanced diagnostic control and the demand for real-time data from field devices have underlined the requirement for these devices in the process automation environment. The predictive maintenance capability of fieldbus devices acts as a centralized control, enhancing the efficiency and operational capability of process control units.

According to the study, the fieldbus market in Europe is expected to earn revenues of $760.27 million by 2015, up from $448.00 million in 2008. The need for real-time data and increased plant availability offered by fieldbus devices are expected to drive the future market. These technologies include highway-addressable remote transducer (HART) fieldbus, Fieldbus Foundation H1, Profibus, Modbus, and others.

Reductions in heavy cabling results in substantial savings in capital expenditure and reduces the total man hours spent on maintenance. In addition, plant availability is increased by boosting add-on devices through lowered commissioning efforts. Thus, fieldbus devices provide the advantage of online information tracking, which helps in improving overall plant efficiency, according to the study.

“The prognostic capability of fieldbus devices enables easy diagnosis of controllers or equipment and predicts if the device requires the attention of the operator,” says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Khadambari Shanbagaraman. “The flexibility of offering services from one central point by connecting additional devices to the bus provides compatibility and extends access to remote systems in the field, eases the work load of the maintenance person, and is an efficient fault detector with reduced debugging time.”

For more information on the study, visit Frost & Sullivan.