Latest Utilities Education

Categories

Legal Code

Legal Code

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License By exercising the Licensed Rights (defined…


Textbook

Safety Instrumented Functions and Systems

Safety Instrumented Functions and Systems

A Safety Instrumented Function, or SIF, is one or more components designed to execute a specific…


Textbook

Velocity-based Flowmeters

Velocity-based Flowmeters

The Law of Continuity for fluids states that the product of mass density (\(\rho\)), cross-sectional pipe area…


Textbook

Atomic Theory and Chemical Symbols

Atomic Theory and Chemical Symbols

The three “elementary” particles of matter comprising all atoms are electrons, protons, and…


Textbook

4-wire (“self-powered”) Transmitter Current Loops

4-wire (“self-powered”) Transmitter Current Loops

DC electric current signals may also be used to communicate process measurement information from transmitters…


Textbook

Teaching Technical Practices (Labwork)

Teaching Technical Practices (Labwork)

Labwork is an essential part of any science-based curriculum. Here, much improvement may be made over the…


Textbook

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…


Textbook

Wastewater Disinfection Example

Wastewater Disinfection Example

The final step in treating wastewater before releasing it into the natural environment is to kill any harmful…


Textbook

Weight-based Level Measurement

Weight-based Level Measurement

Weight-based level instruments sense process level in a vessel by directly measuring the weight of the vessel.…


Textbook

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…


Textbook

Principles, not Procedures

Principles, not Procedures

One of the marks of a successful problem-solver is a habit of applying general principles to every new problem…


Textbook

Mechanical Vibration Switches

Mechanical Vibration Switches

A much simpler alternative to continuous vibration sensors (displacement or acceleration) and monitoring…


Textbook

Conservation Laws

Conservation Laws

The Law of Mass Conservation states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. The Law of Energy…


Textbook

Ladder Diagram (LD) Programming Contacts and Coils

Ladder Diagram (LD) Programming Contacts and Coils

In the United States, the most common language used to program PLCs is Ladder Diagram (LD), also known as…


Textbook

Continuous Float Level Transmitters

Continuous Float Level Transmitters

Perhaps the simplest form of solid or liquid level measurement is with a float: a device that rides on the…


Textbook

Sliding-stem Valves

Sliding-stem Valves

A sliding-stem valve body is one where the moving parts slide with a linear motion. Some examples of…


Textbook

FOUNDATION Fieldbus H1 Protocol Data Link Layer

FOUNDATION Fieldbus H1 Protocol Data Link Layer

Like so many other industrial data networks, FOUNDATION Fieldbus is an “unswitched” or…


Textbook

Proximity Switches

Proximity Switches

A proximity switch is one detecting the proximity (closeness) of some object. By definition, these switches…


Textbook

Velocity-based Flowmeters

Velocity-based Flowmeters

The Law of Continuity for fluids states that the product of mass density (\(\rho\)), cross-sectional pipe area…


Textbook

FOUNDATION Fieldbus H1 Protocol Segment Troubleshooting

FOUNDATION Fieldbus H1 Protocol Segment Troubleshooting

Feedback obtained from industrial users of FF reveal a common pattern: Fieldbus is a powerful and reliable…


Textbook

Physics and Chemistry Terminology and Definitions

Physics and Chemistry Terminology and Definitions

Atom: the smallest unit of matter that may be isolated by chemical means. Particle: a part of an atom,…


Textbook

Transmitter Damping Adjustments

Transmitter Damping Adjustments

The vast majority of modern process transmitters (both analog and digital) come equipped with a feature known…


Textbook

Proportional-only Offset

Proportional-only Offset

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


Textbook

Control Valve Sizing

Control Valve Sizing

When control valves operate between fully open and fully shut, they serve much the same purpose in process…


Textbook