Imagine a liquid-level control system for a vessel, where the position of a level-sensing float directly sets…
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One of the fundamental laws of electric circuits is Kirchhoff’s Current Law, which states the algebraic…
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Phasors are to AC circuit quantities as polarity is to DC circuit quantities: a way to express the…
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As defined previously, calibration means the comparison and adjustment (if necessary) of an instrument’s…
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As we have seen, the concept of differentiation is finding the rate-of-change of one variable compared to…
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Capacitors store energy in electric fields, proportional to the square of voltage. Inductors store energy in…
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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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When a high-energy photon strikes an atom, it may eject one of the lower-level electrons from its shell,…
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Programmable logic controllers are essentially nothing more than special-purpose, industrial computers. As…
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By definition, a source is a device delivering energy into a system, while a load is a device extracting…
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A proximity switch is one detecting the proximity (closeness) of some object. By definition, these switches…
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A positive displacement flowmeter is a cyclic mechanism built to pass a fixed volume of fluid through with…
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Some analyzers measure the composition of a process stream by directly immersing the sensing element in that…
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A very common method for directly controlling low flow rates of fluids is to use a device known as a metering…
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An electromechanical relay is an electrical switch actuated by an electromagnet coil. As switching devices,…
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Binary patterns are not just able to represent numerical values. Given a standardized code, they may represent…
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Few areas of mathematics are as powerfully useful in describing and analyzing the physical world as calculus:…
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A unique form of technical diagram for describing the abstract functions comprising a control system (e.g. PID…
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In order to provide an interface between the internal (digital) world of a computer and the external (analog)…
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Electromechanical relays may be connected together to perform logic and control functions, acting as logic…
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The following photograph shows a large air blower in a wastewater treatment facility equipped with a…
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Constructing PID control systems using discrete components is a fairly simple method involving operational…
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A unique form of differential pressure-based flow measurement deserves its own section in this flow…
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An important legacy technology for all kinds of continuous measurement is the self-balancing system. A…
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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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In a manually-controlled process, a human operator directly actuates some form of final control element…
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(Will be addressed in future versions of this book)
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Coy, John J. et. al. (December 2012) Sampled graphic illustrations from his NASA Reference Publication…
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There is much to be said for neatness of assembly in electrical signal wiring. Even though the electrons…
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The majority of flowmeter technologies operate on the principle of interpreting fluid flow based on the…
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A machine in the broad sense of the word is any device designed to translate some form of energy into useful…
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The simplest form of 4-20 mA current loop is the type used to represent the output of a process controller,…
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The disadvantages of pneumatic instruments are painfully evident to anyone familiar with both pneumatic and…
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License By exercising the Licensed Rights (defined…
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The next level of detail is the Process and Instrument Diagram, or P&ID. Here, we see a “zooming…
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Many traditional flowmeter technologies respond to the volumetric flow rate of the moving fluid.…
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While 50 and 51 (instantaneous and time overcurrent) relay functions monitor line current magnitude and guard…
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Sensors used to measure vibration come in three basic types: displacement, velocity, and acceleration.…
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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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(Will be addressed in future versions of this book)
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Those familiar with industrial instrumentation will find much within the electric power industry remarkably…
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In the United States, the most common language used to program PLCs is Ladder Diagram (LD), also known as…
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Programmable logic controllers are essentially nothing more than special-purpose, industrial computers. As…
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The following animation shows the calculus concepts of differentiation and integration (with respect to time)…
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Once while working as an instrument technician in an aluminum foundry, a mechanic asked me what it was that I…
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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 pneumatic controller receives a process variable (PV) signal as a variable air pressure, compares that…
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Valves can experience a number of problems, most of them either preventable or repairable. These problems can…
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As we have seen, the concept of differentiation is finding the rate-of-change of one variable compared to…
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(Will be addressed in future versions of this book)
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