The efficient identification and correction of instrument calibration errors is an important function for…
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Data-processing modules within FF systems are known as function blocks. Sometimes these blocks serve merely to…
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Hydrogen ion activity in aqueous (water-solvent) solutions is a very important parameter for a wide variety of…
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Although analog electronic process controllers are considered a newer technology than pneumatic process…
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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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As we have seen, feedforward control is a way to improve the stability of a feedback control system in the…
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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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Learning PLC programming is a very important skill. If your job involves programming, then you will likely…
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Diagnostic ability is arguably the most difficult skill to develop within a student, and also the most…
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The Law of Continuity for fluids states that the product of mass density (\(\rho\)), cross-sectional pipe area…
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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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Instrument technicians should not have to concern themselves over the programming details internal to digital…
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The transformer is one of the most important components in all of AC circuitry. Principally used to…
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Human-machine interfaces, or HMIs, are a critical part of nearly all control systems, complementing the…
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“Feedforward” is a rather under-used control strategy capable of managing a great many types of…
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“Radio” systems use electromagnetic fields to communicate information over long distances through…
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While the term “probability” may evoke images of imprecision, probability is in fact an exact…
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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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In the United States, the most common language used to program PLCs is Ladder Diagram (LD), also known as…
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At the root of successful system diagnosis is a rigorous adherence to scientific reasoning. There exists no…
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An on/off valve is the fluid equivalent of an electrical switch: a device that either allows unimpeded flow or…
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Perhaps the most confusing aspect of discrete sensors is the definition of a sensor’s normal status.…
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A sliding-stem valve body is one where the moving parts slide with a linear motion. Some examples of…
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A level switch is one detecting the level of liquid or solid (granules or powder) in a vessel. Level switches…
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The fundamental principle of electromagnetism is that an electric current will create a magnetic field at…
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Electrical Resistance Resistance (\(R\)) is the dissipative opposition to an electric current, analogous to…
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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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Nearly every technical course teaches and tests students on definitions, basic concepts, and at least some…
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A vertical column of fluid generates a pressure at the bottom of the column owing to the action of gravity on…
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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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PID control can be a confusing concept to understand. Here, a brief summary of each term within PID (P. I, and…
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Perhaps the most valuable skill an instrument technician can possess is the ability to efficiently diagnose…
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Fieldbus devices require far more attention in their initial setup and commissioning than their analog…
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The very purpose of physics is to quantitatively describe and explain the physical world in as few terms as…
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A pneumatic controller receives a process variable (PV) signal as a variable air pressure, compares that…
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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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A temperature switch is one detecting the temperature of some substance. Temperature switches often use…
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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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A quantitative PID tuning procedure is a step-by-step approach leading directly to a set of numerical values…
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