Instrument technicians should not have to concern themselves over the programming details internal to digital…
Textbook
In the United States, the most common language used to program PLCs is Ladder Diagram (LD), also known as…
Textbook
The Law of Continuity for fluids states that the product of mass density (\(\rho\)), cross-sectional pipe area…
Textbook
A fluid is any substance having the ability to flow: to freely change shape and move under the influence of a…
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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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(Will be addressed in future versions of this book)
Textbook
One of the fundamental laws of electric circuits is Kirchhoff’s Current Law, which states the algebraic…
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There are many process control applications in the industry where it is desirable to have multiple control…
Textbook
In November of 2007 a new computer virus was submitted to a virus scanning service. The purpose of this new…
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Non-dispersive analysis, while newer in discovery than dispersive analysis (Isaac Newton’s 17th-century…
Textbook
Learning PLC programming is a very important skill. If your job involves programming, then you will likely…
Textbook
Although it seems each model of PLC has its own idiosyncratic standard for programming, there does exist an…
Textbook
Perhaps the most important rule of controller tuning is to know the process before attempting to adjust the…
Textbook
An interesting parallel to the “unity fraction” unit conversion technique is something referred to…
Textbook
“Polyphase” means “many phases,” describing a form of AC electrical system where…
Textbook
All masses require force to accelerate (we can also think of this in terms of the mass generating a reaction…
Textbook
Valves can experience a number of problems, most of them either preventable or repairable. These problems can…
Textbook
(Will be addressed in future versions of this book)
Textbook
Programmable logic controllers are essentially nothing more than special-purpose, industrial computers. As…
Textbook
In contrast to quantitative tuning procedures where definite numerical values for P, I, and D controller…
Textbook
“Radio” systems use electromagnetic fields to communicate information over long distances through…
Textbook
Non-dispersive analysis, while newer in discovery than dispersive analysis (Isaac Newton’s 17th-century…
Textbook
There are many process control applications in the industry where it is desirable to have multiple control…
Textbook
The simple PLC ladder diagram (LD) commands consist of contacts and coils, arranged in sequences that mimic…
Textbook
While 50 and 51 (instantaneous and time overcurrent) relay functions monitor line current magnitude and guard…
Textbook
The efficient identification and correction of instrument calibration errors is an important function for…
Textbook
Although analog electronic process controllers are considered a newer technology than pneumatic process…
Textbook
Hydrogen ion activity in aqueous (water-solvent) solutions is a very important parameter for a wide variety of…
Textbook
The two “process variables” we rely on most heavily in the field of electrical measurement and…
Textbook
RTDs are completely passive sensing elements, requiring the application of an externally-sourced electric…
Textbook
The Law of Continuity for fluids states that the product of mass density (\(\rho\)), cross-sectional pipe area…
Textbook
“Feedforward” is a rather under-used control strategy capable of managing a great many types of…
Textbook
An extremely important topic in engineering is that of transfer functions. Simply defined, a transfer function…
Textbook
In the United States, the most common language used to program PLCs is Ladder Diagram (LD), also known as…
Textbook
Although it seems each model of PLC has its own idiosyncratic standard for programming, there does exist an…
Textbook
Three-phase AC is the dominant mode of electric power generation and distribution in modern societies.…
Textbook
Human-machine interfaces, or HMIs, are a critical part of nearly all control systems, complementing the…
Textbook
As we have seen, the concept of integration is finding the accumulation of one variable multiplied by another…
Textbook
Diagnostic ability is arguably the most difficult skill to develop within a student, and also the most…
Textbook
“Polyphase” means “many phases,” describing a form of AC electrical system where…
Textbook
A unique form of technical diagram for describing the abstract functions comprising a control system (e.g. PID…
Textbook
Once while working as an instrument technician in an aluminum foundry, a mechanic asked me what it was that I…
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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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A quantitative PID tuning procedure is a step-by-step approach leading directly to a set of numerical values…
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In a manually-controlled process, a human operator directly actuates some form of final control element…
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A limit switch detects the physical motion of an object by direct contact with that object. An example of a…
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Another category of control strategies involves the use of signal relays or function blocks with the ability…
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The reason why a pneumatic control valve’s stem position corresponds linearly to the amount of air…
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Imagine a liquid-level control system for a vessel, where the position of a level-sensing float sets the…
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The vast majority of PID controllers in service today are digital in nature. Microprocessors executing PID…
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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 very common method for directly controlling low flow rates of fluids is to use a device known as a metering…
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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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Any power grid large enough to meet the demand of an entire nation must have multiple generators drawing from…
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Level gauges are perhaps the simplest indicating instrument for liquid level in a vessel. They are often found…
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Perhaps the most valuable skill an instrument technician can possess is the ability to efficiently diagnose…
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Classical mechanics (often called Newtonian mechanics in honor of Isaac Newton) deal with forces and motions…
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A limitation inherent to pneumatic valve actuators is the amount of air flow required to or from the actuator…
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The vast majority of modern process transmitters (both analog and digital) come equipped with a feature known…
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Atom: the smallest unit of matter that may be isolated by chemical means. Particle: a part of an atom,…
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