A laser is a light source emitting waves of light that not only share the exact same frequency (color)…
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In the United States, the ANSI and IEEE organizations have standardized a set of numerical codes referring to…
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In addition to directly performing logic functions, electromechanical relays may also be used as interposing…
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Electrical Resistance Resistance (\(R\)) is the dissipative opposition to an electric current, analogous to…
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Instrument technicians should not have to concern themselves over the programming details internal to digital…
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So far we have just looked at instruments that sense, control, and influence process variables. Transmitters,…
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An extremely important topic in engineering is that of transfer functions. Simply defined, a transfer function…
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A very simple device used to measure pressure is the manometer: a fluid-filled tube where an applied gas…
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Perhaps the most basic and necessary protective relay function is overcurrent: commanding a circuit breaker to…
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In order for any PID controller to be practical, it must be able to do more than just implement the PID…
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As defined previously, calibration means the comparison and adjustment (if necessary) of an instrument’s…
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A pressure switch is one detecting the presence of fluid pressure. Pressure switches often use diaphragms or…
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An variable-area flowmeter is one where the fluid must pass through a restriction whose area increases with…
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Like so many other industrial data networks, FOUNDATION Fieldbus is an “unswitched” or…
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Since we often use electricity to convey energy from one location to another, it is important to be able to…
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The following animation shows how a radio-energy pulse travels down and then up the waveguide of a guided-wave…
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This animation shows the basic operation of a gas chromatograph, showing the separation of different molecular…
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Perhaps the most basic and necessary protective relay function is overcurrent: commanding a circuit breaker to…
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Recall that an exothermic chemical reaction is one that releases a net sum of energy, as opposed to an…
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There are multiple motives for compromising the security of an industrial control system, some of which…
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A variety of problem-solving techniques have been presented for students over the years which are all helpful…
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To better understand the design and operation of self-balancing pneumatic mechanisms, it is helpful to examine…
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One of the great benefits of digital technology is the ability to communicate vast amounts of information over…
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An extremely important topic in engineering is that of transfer functions. Simply defined, a transfer function…
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A completely different way of measuring liquid level in vessels is to bounce a traveling wave off the surface…
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Cyber-security seems to have its own vocabulary, ranging from unwieldy technical acronyms to slang terms…
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Learning is not merely a process of information transfer. It is first and foremost a transformation of…
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“Polyphase” means “many phases,” describing a form of AC electrical system where…
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A number of different sensors used in instrumentation generate DC voltage signals proportional to the process…
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Process measurements are often of an analog nature: the temperature of a furnace, the rate of fluid flow…
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A fundamental limitation of proportional control has to do with its response to changes in setpoint and…
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A fundamental principle in instrumentation system troubleshooting is that every instrument has at least one…
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A form of protection against faults on long-distance power lines is called distance relaying, so named because…
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A very common form of on/off valve used for pneumatic and hydraulic systems alike is the solenoid valve. A…
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Take for instance the problem of measuring fluid flow through a pipe. To the layperson, this may seem to be a…
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Control valves are supposed to deliver reliable, repeatable control of process fluid flow rate over a wide…
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The majority of flowmeter technologies operate on the principle of interpreting fluid flow based on the…
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Imagine a major marathon race, where hundreds of runners gather in one place to compete. When the starting gun…
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Capacitors store energy in electric fields, proportional to the square of voltage. Inductors store energy in…
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Learning how to tune PID controllers is a skill born of much practice. Regardless of how thoroughly you may…
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A flow switch is one detecting the flow of some fluid through a pipe. Flow switches often use…
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The concepts of calibration (trimming) and ranging are often difficult for new students of instrumentation to…
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In addition to Ohm’s Law, we have a set of rules describing how voltages, currents, and resistances…
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A unique form of differential pressure-based flow measurement deserves its own section in this flow…
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(Will be addressed in future versions of this book)
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A great many precision instruments use the principle of balance to measure some quantity. Perhaps the simplest…
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The following animation shows how the “rotating” magnetic field of a three-phase AC induction…
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Up until this point, we have explored various types of instrumentation diagram, each one making reference to…
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When control valves operate between fully open and fully shut, they serve much the same purpose in process…
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