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Loop Diagrams (Loop Sheets)

Loop Diagrams (Loop Sheets)

Finally, we arrive at the loop diagram (sometimes called a loop sheet) for the compressor surge control system…


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Pneumatic Sensing Elements

Pneumatic Sensing Elements

Most pneumatic instruments use a simple but highly sensitive mechanism for converting mechanical motion into…


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Standardized Volumetric Flow

Standardized Volumetric Flow

The majority of flowmeter technologies operate on the principle of interpreting fluid flow based on the…


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Unit Conversions and Physical Constants

Unit Conversions and Physical Constants

Converting between disparate units of measurement is the bane of many science students. The problem is worse…


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Tube and Tube Fittings

Tube and Tube Fittings

Tube, like pipe, is a hollow structure designed to provide an enclosed pathway for fluids to flow. In the case…


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Pneumatic PID Controllers

Pneumatic PID Controllers

A pneumatic controller receives a process variable (PV) signal as a variable air pressure, compares that…


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Level Sensor Accessories

Level Sensor Accessories

Disturbances in the liquid tend to complicate liquid level measurement. These disturbances may result from…


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True Mass Flowmeters

True Mass Flowmeters

Many traditional flowmeter technologies respond to the volumetric flow rate of the moving fluid.…


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Null-balance Voltage Measurement

Null-balance Voltage Measurement

A number of different sensors used in instrumentation generate DC voltage signals proportional to the process…


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Measuring Electrical Conductivity

Measuring Electrical Conductivity

The electrical conductivity of liquids is an important analytical measurement in many industrial processes.…


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Vibration Physics

Vibration Physics

One very convenient feature of waves is that their properties are universal. Waves of water in the ocean,…


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The Difference Between Series and Parallel Circuits

The Difference Between Series and Parallel Circuits

In addition to Ohm’s Law, we have a set of rules describing how voltages, currents, and resistances…


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LRV and URV Settings, Digital Trim (Digital Transmitters)

LRV and URV Settings, Digital Trim (Digital Transmitters)

The advent of “smart” field instruments containing microprocessors has been a great advance for…


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Scientific System diagnosis and Scientific Reasoning

Scientific System diagnosis and Scientific Reasoning

At the root of successful system diagnosis is a rigorous adherence to scientific reasoning. There exists no…


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Ultrasonic (Sound) Echo Level Measurement

Ultrasonic (Sound) Echo Level Measurement

A completely different way of measuring liquid level in vessels is to bounce a traveling wave off the surface…


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Introduction to Optical Analysis

Introduction to Optical Analysis

Light is known to interact with matter in very specific ways, which may be exploited as a means of measuring…


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Electrical Sensors: Potential Transformers (PTs) and Current Transformers (CTs)

Electrical Sensors: Potential Transformers (PTs) and Current Transformers (CTs)

The two “process variables” we rely on most heavily in the field of electrical measurement and…


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Teaching Technical Theory

Teaching Technical Theory

Learning is not merely a process of information transfer. It is first and foremost a transformation of…


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Non-dispersive Luft Detector Spectroscopy

Non-dispersive Luft Detector Spectroscopy

Non-dispersive analysis, while newer in discovery than dispersive analysis (Isaac Newton’s 17th-century…


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Proportional-only Offset

Proportional-only Offset

A fundamental limitation of proportional control has to do with its response to changes in setpoint and…


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Examples of PLC Systems

Examples of PLC Systems

Programmable logic controllers are essentially nothing more than special-purpose, industrial computers. As…


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Ethernet networks: Repeaters, Cabling and Switching Hubs

Ethernet networks: Repeaters, Cabling and Switching Hubs

An engineer named Bob Metcalfe conceived the idea of Ethernet in 1973, while working for the Xerox research…


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Null-balance Voltage Measurement

Null-balance Voltage Measurement

A number of different sensors used in instrumentation generate DC voltage signals proportional to the process…


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Interconnected Generators

Interconnected Generators

Any power grid large enough to meet the demand of an entire nation must have multiple generators drawing from…


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Electrical Sensors: Potential Transformers (PTs) and Current Transformers (CTs)

Electrical Sensors: Potential Transformers (PTs) and Current Transformers (CTs)

The two “process variables” we rely on most heavily in the field of electrical measurement and…


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Logic Programming in PLCs

Logic Programming in PLCs

Although it seems each model of PLC has its own idiosyncratic standard for programming, there does exist an…


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Control Valve Characterization

Control Valve Characterization

Control valves are supposed to deliver reliable, repeatable control of process fluid flow rate over a wide…


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Thermistors and Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTDs)

Thermistors and Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTDs)

One of the simplest classes of temperature sensor is one where temperature effects a change in electrical…


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Troubleshooting Current Loops

Troubleshooting Current Loops

A fundamental principle in instrumentation system troubleshooting is that every instrument has at least one…


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Level Sensor Accessories

Level Sensor Accessories

Disturbances in the liquid tend to complicate liquid level measurement. These disturbances may result from…


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Open-ended, Shorted and Properly Terminated Transmission Lines

Open-ended, Shorted and Properly Terminated Transmission Lines

Many years ago, when I was first learning about electricity, I happened to discover a length of coaxial…


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Antennas and Resonant Circuits (Tank Circuits)

Antennas and Resonant Circuits (Tank Circuits)

Capacitors store energy in electric fields, proportional to the square of voltage. Inductors store energy in…


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Phasor Analysis of Transformer Circuits

Phasor Analysis of Transformer Circuits

Three-phase AC is the dominant mode of electric power generation and distribution in modern societies.…


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Numerical Differentiation

Numerical Differentiation

As we have seen, the concept of differentiation is finding the rate-of-change of one variable compared to…


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Interposing Relays in PLCs

Interposing Relays in PLCs

In addition to directly performing logic functions, electromechanical relays may also be used as interposing…


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Distance (21) Protection

Distance (21) Protection

A form of protection against faults on long-distance power lines is called distance relaying, so named because…


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Feedforward with Dynamic Compensation

Feedforward with Dynamic Compensation

As we have seen, feedforward control is a way to improve the stability of a feedback control system in the…


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Electrical Sources and Electronic Load

Electrical Sources and Electronic Load

By definition, a source is a device delivering energy into a system, while a load is a device extracting…


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Split-range Control

Split-range Control

There are many process control applications in the industry where it is desirable to have multiple control…


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Classified Areas and Electrical Safety Measures

Classified Areas and Electrical Safety Measures

Any physical location in an industrial facility harboring the potential of explosion due to the presence of…


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Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

At the next OSI Reference Model layer (layer 4) is a set of protocols specifying how reliable communication…


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Digital Representation of Numerical Data

Digital Representation of Numerical Data

Process measurements are often of an analog nature: the temperature of a furnace, the rate of fluid flow…


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Variable-area Flowmeters

Variable-area Flowmeters

An variable-area flowmeter is one where the fluid must pass through a restriction whose area increases with…


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On/off Shut-off Valves

On/off Shut-off Valves

An on/off valve is the fluid equivalent of an electrical switch: a device that either allows unimpeded flow or…


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Insertion Flowmeters

Insertion Flowmeters

This section does not describe a particular type of flowmeter, but rather a design that may be implemented for…


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Ions in Liquid Solutions

Ions in Liquid Solutions

Many liquid substances undergo a process whereby their constituent molecules split into positively and…


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Instrument Identification Tags

Instrument Identification Tags

Up until this point, we have explored various types of instrumentation diagram, each one making reference to…


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Comparison of  Op-Amp Circuits With Analogous Pneumatic Mechanisms

Comparison of Op-Amp Circuits With Analogous Pneumatic Mechanisms

Self-balancing pneumatic instrument mechanisms are very similar to negative-feedback operational amplifier…


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Force-balance Pressure Transmitters

Force-balance Pressure Transmitters

An important legacy technology for all kinds of continuous measurement is the self-balancing system. A…


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Valve Positioners

Valve Positioners

The reason why a pneumatic control valve’s stem position corresponds linearly to the amount of air…


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Disassembling a Globe Valve

Disassembling a Globe Valve

The following collection of photographs chronicles the complete disassembly of a Fisher E-body globe valve…


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Valve Seat Leakage

Valve Seat Leakage

In some process applications, it is important that the control valve be able to completely stop fluid flow…


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Ladder Diagram (LD) Structure Commands

Ladder Diagram (LD) Structure Commands

The simple PLC ladder diagram (LD) commands consist of contacts and coils, arranged in sequences that mimic…


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Basics of pH Measurement in Industrial Control

Basics of pH Measurement in Industrial Control

Hydrogen ion activity in aqueous (water-solvent) solutions is a very important parameter for a wide variety of…


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FOUNDATION Fieldbus Function Blocks

FOUNDATION Fieldbus Function Blocks

Data-processing modules within FF systems are known as function blocks. Sometimes these blocks serve merely to…


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Laminar Flowmeters

Laminar Flowmeters

A unique form of differential pressure-based flow measurement deserves its own section in this flow…


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Memory Maps and I/O Addressing

Memory Maps and I/O Addressing

A wise PLC programmer once told me that the first thing any aspiring programmer should learn about the PLC…


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How Derivatives and Integrals Relate to One Another

How Derivatives and Integrals Relate to One Another

First, let us review some of the properties of differentials and derivatives, referencing the expression and…


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Practical Measures of Reliability

Practical Measures of Reliability

In reliability engineering, it is important to be able to quantity the reliability (or conversely, the…


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Assessing Student Learning

Assessing Student Learning

As a general rule, high achievement only takes place in an atmosphere of high expectations. Sometimes these…


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