Thermocouple Types, Junctions, Connector and Tip Styles

RTDs are completely passive sensing elements, requiring the application of an externally-sourced electric…

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Safety Instrumented Functions and Systems

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

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Digital Representation of Text

Binary patterns are not just able to represent numerical values. Given a standardized code, they may represent…

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Chemiluminescence Measurement

Recall that an exothermic chemical reaction is one that releases a net sum of energy, as opposed to an…

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Mechanical Pressure Elements

Mechanical pressure-sensing elements include the bellows, the diaphragm, and the bourdon tube. Each of these…

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Digital Multimeter (DMM) Tips and Tricks

The digital multimeter (DMM) is quite possibly the most useful tool in the instrument technician’s…

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Temperature Switches

A temperature switch is one detecting the temperature of some substance. Temperature switches often use…

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Insertion Flowmeters

This section does not describe a particular type of flowmeter, but rather a design that may be implemented for…

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Fundamental Principles of Industrial Instrumentation

Shown here is a partial listing of principles applied in the subject matter of this chapter, given for the…

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Understanding the Calculus Concepts of Differentiation and Integration

The following animation shows the calculus concepts of differentiation and integration (with respect to time)…

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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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Metric Prefixes and Prefix Scale

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Differential (87) Current Protection

One of the fundamental laws of electric circuits is Kirchhoff’s Current Law, which states the algebraic…

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Level Switches

A level switch is one detecting the level of liquid or solid (granules or powder) in a vessel. Level switches…

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Analog to Digital Conversion and ADCs

In order to provide an interface between the internal (digital) world of a computer and the external (analog)…

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Fluorescence Measurement

When a high-energy photon strikes an atom, it may eject one of the lower-level electrons from its shell,…

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On/off Control (Bang-bang Control)

Once while working as an instrument technician in an aluminum foundry, a mechanic asked me what it was that I…

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Basics of Electrical Current

Current is the name we give to the motion of electric charges from a point of high potential to a point of low…

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The Basics of Control Relays

An electromechanical relay is an electrical switch actuated by an electromagnet coil. As switching devices,…

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Pilot Valves and Pneumatic Amplifying Relays

Self-balancing mechanisms consisting solely of a baffle/nozzle detector coupled to a feedback bellows, while…

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Tube and Tube Fittings

Tube, like pipe, is a hollow structure designed to provide an enclosed pathway for fluids to flow. In the case…

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