Basic Components Common to all Radio Systems

“Radio” systems use electromagnetic fields to communicate information over long distances through…

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Process and Instrument Diagrams

The next level of detail is the Process and Instrument Diagram, or P&ID. Here, we see a “zooming…

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Relay Circuits and Ladder Diagrams

Electromechanical relays may be connected together to perform logic and control functions, acting as logic…

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Principles, not Procedures

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

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ANSI/IEEE Function Number Codes

In the United States, the ANSI and IEEE organizations have standardized a set of numerical codes referring to…

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Derivative (Rate) Control

The final element of PID control is the “D” term, which stands for derivative. This is a calculus…

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High-reliability Control Systems

As discussed at the beginning of this chapter, instrumentation safety may be broadly divided into two…

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Safety Gas Analyzers

Process analyzers measure the concentration of specific substances for the purpose of measuring and/or…

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Problem-solving by Simplification

A whole class of problem-solving techniques focuses on altering the given problem into a simpler form that is…

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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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Ions in Liquid Solutions

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

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Difference Between Calibration and Re-ranging

What is Calibration? To calibrate an instrument means to check and adjust (if necessary) its response so the…

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Stoichiometry and the Law of Mass Conservation

Stoichiometry is the accounting of atoms before and after a chemical reaction. It is an expression of the Law…

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Limit Switches

A limit switch detects the physical motion of an object by direct contact with that object. An example of a…

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Symbolic Versus Numerical Calculus

Calculus has a reputation for being difficult to learn, and with good reason. The traditional approach to…

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Examples of PLC Systems

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

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Displacement and Displacer Level Instrumentation

Displacer level instruments exploit Archimedes’ Principle to detect liquid level by continuously…

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Atomic Theory and Chemical Symbols

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

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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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Analog Signal Conditioning and Referencing

Modern analog-to-digital converters are phenomenally accurate, dependable, repeatable, and surprisingly…

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Periodic Table of the Ions

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