FT-IR sales for on-line analysis expected to grow 27% by the year 2000
While a gas chromatograph (GC) is still the analyzer of choice in on-line processing applications, it is being challenged by mass spectrometers and Fourier-transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectrometers in some applications. Venture Development (Natick, MA) notes in its study, The U.S. Market for On-Line Process Analyzers, that 1995 sales were $65 million for GCs and $13.3 million and $15 million for mass and FT-IR spectrometers, respectively. Growth rates in sales by 1999, however, are projected to be 16% for GCs, 28% for mass spectrometers, and 27% for FTIR instruments. Although the latter two classes of analyzers typically cost several times more than GCs, they are often cost-effective due to their greater speed of analysis, allowing one unit to replace several GCs. The study also covers other IR, ultraviolet, and visible photometers and chemiluminescence analyzers.