Held for the second consecutive year in the heart of US oil country, this year’s ISA exposition in Houston, Texas, met many people’s lowered expectations for the event. Many process analytical instrument vendors opted for smaller booths and some elected to pass up the show altogether. Although attendance and number of exhibitors declined 4% and 6% to 12,000 and 517, respectively, these figures are still considerably higher than ISA’s poorest performance in recent memory when it was held in Chicago, Illinois, in 2005 (see IBO 10/31/05).

While the ISA show does not tend to be a major target for new instrument introductions, there were nonetheless a few new instruments and several fairly recent introductions being shown for the first time. By far, Hach had on display the widest range of all-new instruments at the show. One was the 9245 online process sodium analyzer, whose most significant new feature is the ability to run grab-samples. Another new instrument was Hach’s G1100 process trace oxygen sensor, which is based on Hach’s luminescent dissolved oxygen (LDO) analysis technology, and pushes the limits of detection down to 0.01 ppb.

Roper Industries subsidiary PAC announced for the first time its new PSPI MicroDist analyzer at the show. The MicroDist is an online distillation analyzer that meets ASTM D86 requirements and is intended for the petroleum industry.

Ametek had on display two instruments that were introduced within the past year. The company announced the nondispersive infrared (NDIR) version of its IPS-4 process analyzer, which has been available in a UV-Vis configuration since 2005. The company was also promoting the Spectro Arcos ICP-OES system (see IBO 8/15/07), first announced at this year’s Pittcon.

The 2008 ISA Expo will once again be held at the Reliant Center in Houston, Texas, from October 14–18. With 32% more on-site booth sales completed for next year’s show there is clearly reason to be optimistic about next year’s participant draw.