Glass Scintillator Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Natural Lithium Depleted Lithium, Enriched Lithium), By Application (Oil & Gas, Nuclear Power Plant), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025

Industry Insights

The global glass scintillator market size was valued at USD 21.14 million in 2016. Increasing demand from the nuclear industry is expected to be a key factor driving the global market growth over the forecast period.

Glass scintillators are used in detectors as they help in monitoring energy radiations from nuclear reactors. It is also useful in oil and gas exploration due to its ability to perform under the harsh working conditions of temperature and pressure. It is used for the detection of pore pressure and rock mechanical properties. The determination of mechanical properties of rock benefits the drillers in terms of effective drilling decision, which in turn helps in enhancing the drilling efficiency. The drilling efficiency, in turn, depends on drilling speed, borehole pressure, and other similar characteristics.

U.S. glass scintillator market, by product type, 2014 - 2025 (USD Million)

The U.S. market was valued at USD 6.37 million in 2016 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 3.7% from 2017 to 2025. The demand for lithium-based scintillator is increasing on account shortage in the supply of helium, which is used as a material for thermal neutron detection. The lithium-based material is useful due to lower atomic number, which imparts gamma transparency, and is thus advantageous.

The scintillator has useful properties which include higher resolution, broad transmission, better mechanical hardness, and enhanced energy proportionality. The lithium interacts with neutron to produce high energy particles, which are easier to detect and measure. Neutron detection finds large applications in nuclear power plant, particle physics, and nuclear medicine

The U.S. produces around 20% electricity from nuclear power plants, which is a major reason for the higher share of lithium-based glass scintillator in the North America region. The emerging economies of Asia Pacific such as China, India, South Korea, and others are increasingly relying on nuclear power, which is further expected to boost the lithium based glass scintillator growth over the forecast period in these regions.

However, the shortage of highly skilled workforce to operate the detectors by using glass scintillators, especially in nuclear power plants is likely to have negative implications on market growth over the forecast period.

Product Insights

Depleted lithium has emerged as the leading product segment and accounted for 42.9% of the total revenue share in 2016. The increasing well complexity coupled with rising cost of carrying out drilling operations has driven the need for measurement while drilling, which in turn helps in gaining valuable information about the well or reservoir conditions. Increasing need for logging while drilling (LWD) and measurement-while-drilling (MWD) solutions in upstream oil and gas industry is expected to drive the glass scintillator market growth.

Precise formation evaluation has become an essential element in the exploration business as it helps to enhance productivity while drilling. The use of lithium-based glass scintillator in logging while drilling process contributes toward reducing the time for proper data required to take a decision. This, in turn, also reduces the environmental impact of drilling in the area.

The North America region has abundant oil and gas fields with lower exploration cost. This, coupled with advanced research techniques used in measurement while drilling, can help in yielding higher profitability. The advances in measurement while drilling is likely to boost the growth of lithium-based glass scintillators in the North America region, especially the U.S., which has been a center for shale boom, changing the pricing dynamics of the oil industry

Enriched lithium is extensively used in the oil & gas and nuclear industries as a neutron detector owing to its characteristics such as working under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure. This product segment accounted for second highest share in the global market with revenue of USD 8.67 million in 2016 and is projected to reach at USD 11.92 million by 2025.

Asia Pacific region was growing owing to increasing demand from end-user industries. Rising installations of nuclear power plants in the Asia Pacific region is expected to be the key growth factor. Emerging economies, such as China and India, are mainly contributing towards growth in these countries.

End-Use Insights

Oil and gas has emerged as the major end-use segment and accounted for 85.7% of the global revenue share in 2016. Companies in the oil and gas business are exploring new investment opportunities for the development of oil rigs before investing in one. This is possible with the aid of lithium-based glass scintillators used for data collection during the drilling process, which ensures return on investment.

The measurement-while-drilling (MWD) technology is useful for formation evaluation, which is, in turn, beneficial for directional and horizontal drilling of wells. Lithium-based glass scintillators provide reliable data from well logging by employing different techniques such as measurement-while-drilling and logging-while-drilling. Real-time data transmission during drilling enables the operator to take correct decision, which reduces the turnaround time for drilling, resulting in cost savings.

In addition to these benefits, the product possesses the ability to perform under extreme conditions, of temperature, pressure, vacuum, magnetic field, and humidity, which makes it an ideal choice for oil & gas exploration. These factors together are anticipated to boost the overall demand over the forecast period.

Regional Insights

North America leads the market in terms of revenue share in 2016, and this trend is expected to continue over the forecast period. It was valued at USD 7.66 million in 2016 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.3% from 2017 to 2025. Increasing demand from end-use sector mainly oil & gas is expected to propel the growth over the forecast period.

Global glass scintillator market, by region, 2016 (%)

Europe was followed by North America in terms of revenue share and is expected to grow at a rate of 2.9% over the forecast period. Asia Pacific was the fastest-growing regional segment growing at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2017 to 2025. Changing population dynamics from rural to urban center, coupled with increasing demand for electricity, are projected to boost nuclear power plant installations in the Asia Pacific region. Countries such as China, India, South Korea, Pakistan, and others have proposed installation of many nuclear reactors for the period from 2018 to 2020.

Glass Scintillator Market Share Insights

The market is oligopolistic in nature and marked by the presence of global and regional players. Key players in the market include Saint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics, Inc., Scintacor, and GeeBee International. The companies are emphasizing on new product development, partnerships, and acquisitions with key players to increase the share and strengthen competitive aspect.

Report Scope

Segments covered in the report

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis on the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global glass scintillator market on the basis of product, application, and region:

• Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Thousand, 2014 - 2025)

  • Natural Lithium

  • Depleted Lithium

  • Enriched Lithium

• Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Thousand, 2014 - 2025)

  • Oil & Gas

  • Nuclear Power Plant

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Thousand, 2014 - 2025)

  • North America

    • The U.S.

  • Europe

    • The U.K.

    • Russia

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • India

  • Central & South America

    • Brazil

  • Middle East & Africa