Instrument technicians should not have to concern themselves over the programming details internal to digital…
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An engineer named Bob Metcalfe conceived the idea of Ethernet in 1973, while working for the Xerox research…
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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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While the term “probability” may evoke images of imprecision, probability is in fact an exact…
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The two “process variables” we rely on most heavily in the field of electrical measurement and…
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Although it seems each model of PLC has its own idiosyncratic standard for programming, there does exist an…
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As we have seen, feedforward control is a way to improve the stability of a feedback control system in the…
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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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A completely different way of measuring liquid level in vessels is to bounce a traveling wave off the surface…
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As previously defined, calibration refers to the checking and adjustment of an instrument so that its output…
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Perhaps the most valuable skill an instrument technician can possess is the ability to efficiently diagnose…
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Non-dispersive analysis, while newer in discovery than dispersive analysis (Isaac Newton’s 17th-century…
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While 50 and 51 (instantaneous and time overcurrent) relay functions monitor line current magnitude and guard…
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The simple PLC ladder diagram (LD) commands consist of contacts and coils, arranged in sequences that mimic…
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Light is known to interact with matter in very specific ways, which may be exploited as a means of measuring…
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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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The vast majority of PID controllers in service today are digital in nature. Microprocessors executing PID…
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RTDs are completely passive sensing elements, requiring the application of an externally-sourced electric…
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“Polyphase” means “many phases,” describing a form of AC electrical system where…
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Programmable logic controllers are essentially nothing more than special-purpose, industrial computers. As…
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Modern DC and AC motor drives provide features useful when using electric motors as final control elements.…
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Regulating the electric power sent to an electric motor is a task performed by high-speed switching…
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Pipe is a hollow structure designed to provide an enclosed pathway for fluids to flow, usually manufactured…
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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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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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Many years ago, when I was first learning about electricity, I happened to discover a length of coaxial…
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Thermodynamics is the study of heat, temperature, and their related effects in physical systems. As a subject,…
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I remember first learning about the world-wide Internet, and wondering what it actually looked like. The first…
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It is often useful to express the amplitude of an alternating quantity such as voltage or current in terms…
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The vast majority of PID controllers in service today are digital in nature. Microprocessors executing PID…
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Sometimes we encounter a diversity of instrument signal standards in one control system. Such is the case with…
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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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Certain types of nuclear radiation easily penetrates the walls of industrial vessels, but is attenuated by…
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Cyber-security seems to have its own vocabulary, ranging from unwieldy technical acronyms to slang terms…
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The digital multimeter (DMM) is quite possibly the most useful tool in the instrument technician’s…
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“As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps…
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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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Process analyzers measure the concentration of specific substances for the purpose of measuring and/or…
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Nearly every technical course teaches and tests students on definitions, basic concepts, and at least some…
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Shown here is a partial listing of principles applied in the subject matter of this chapter, given for the…
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