Steam Trap Market

Market Overview:

The global steam trap market size reached US$ 3.8 Billion in 2022. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to reach US$ 5.0 Billion by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3% during 2023-2028.

A steam trap refers to an automatic valve used to release condensates and non-condensates, including carbon dioxide (CO₂) and oxygen (O₂), from the steam lines. It acts as a drain valve and aids in the separation of condensable gases from the steam system to generate latent heat and transfer it to the desired product. Some of the commonly used steam traps include mechanical, thermostatic and thermodynamic traps. The mechanical or density-operated steam traps separate the steam from heavy condensates based on their densities and only discharge the condensates while retaining the steam. The thermostatic variants consist of a port, which opens or closes on the basis of the temperature of the inlet material. The trap only allows the movement of cooler gases through the system and retains the warmer steam for further utilization. The thermodynamic, or kinetic energy-operated steam trap, operates by releasing flash steam from the flowing hot condensates. They aid in minimizing the wastage of steam and CO₂ emissions into the environment. As a result, they are widely used in industrial storage tanks, steamers, pressure reducing valve stations, heat exchangers and reboilers.

Global Steam Trap Market Trends: Significant Growth in the Oil and Gas Industry

With the increasing automation in the oil and gas industry and the growing number of offshore and onshore exploratory activities across the globe, there is a substantial rise in the requirement for durable and light-weight steam traps with longer shelf life. In the oilfields, steam traps are largely used for steam-assisted gravity-drainage processes. They act as a physical barrier to block the flow of injected steam formed in a producing well containing large volumes of oil and water. They are also used for fluid catalytic cracking and decoking processes in the oil and gas refineries to separate a small amount of steam from the hydrogen present in coke. In line with this, industrial plants use steel-based steam traps to transport the latent heat from process exchangers and drain the condensates. The steel variants provide enhanced design flexibility, cost-effectiveness and operational reliability of the steam system and ensure that the steam trap is able to withstand freeze-ups without damage. As a result, they are widely used in industrial dryers, evaporators, vulcanizers, process vats and autoclaves.

Advancements in Product Variants

Product manufacturers are developing innovative steam traps that are used in bio industries for the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and medical sterilizers and supplying clean steam. The interior and exterior surfaces of the steam trap are manufactured with crevice-free designs using stainless steel to prevent the accumulation of condensates, boiler additives and rust that can cause infections. They are also extensively used with steam distribution and condensate collection systems for effective heat tracing applications and maintaining desired temperature, viscosity control and freeze protection within a fluid. Novel variants are equipped with strainers, check valves, air vents and self-draining systems to prevent damage caused by freezing during plant shutdown. They also assist in the quick start-up of the plant with continuous venting of air and carbon dioxide. In line with this, the advent of wireless steam trap systems is also favoring the market growth. These advanced variants are manufactured with thermocouple sensors that take temperature readings at periodic intervals and transmit the signal to a remotely accessible digital interface.

Development of Steam Trap Monitoring Systems

Novel steam traps are integrated with innovative monitoring systems that get activated in case the steam trap breaks down. It drains the condensates present in the system and vents them back to inhibit heat transfer and process temperature control. It also aids in diminishing the problems associated with water hammer or pressure rise and thermal shock or thermal stress, thereby minimizing the wastage of energy. It consists of gate-type valves, such as an isolation valve located upstream of the trap and a test and isolation valve located downstream of the trap. The monitoring systems are available in both manual and wireless technologies. The manual steam trap monitoring systems utilize an ultrasonic instrument or a heat gun to measure the temperature changes periodically. On the other hand, wireless systems use thermocouple sensors to take the temperature readings automatically at pre-defined intervals. The sensors transmit the readings to a dedicated platform to provide meaningful insights about the steam trap system and assist in predicting any faults by analyzing the received information.

Key Market Segmentation:

IMARC Group provides an analysis of the key trends in each segment of the global steam trap market report, along with forecasts at the global, regional and country levels from 2023-2028. Our report has categorized the market based on product type, distribution channel, application, material type and end-use industry.

Breakup by Product Type:

• Thermodynamic
• Mechanical
• Thermostatic
   

Breakup by Application:

• Instrument Steam Tracing
• Line Steam Tracing
• Drip Application
• Process Application
• Others
   

Breakup by Material Type:

• Steel
• Iron
• Others
   

Breakup by Distribution Channel:

• Online
• Offline

Breakup by End-Use Industry:

• Oil & Gas
• Power Generation
• Pharmaceuticals
• Food & Beverages
• Pulp & Paper
• Chemical
• Others
   

Breakup by Region:

• North America
  • United States
  • Canada
• Asia Pacific
  • China
  • Japan
  • India
  • South Korea
  • Australia
  • Indonesia
  • Others
• Europe
  • Germany
  • France
  • United Kingdom
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Russia
  • Others
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Others
• Middle East and Africa

Competitive Landscape:

The report has also analyzed the competitive landscape of the market with some of the key players being Circor International Inc., Emerson Electric Co., Flowserve Corporation, Pentair Inc., Schlumberger Limited, Spirax-Sarco Engineering, Thermax Ltd., Velan Inc., Watts Water Technologies Inc., The Weir Group PLC, etc.

Report Coverage: