An extremely important topic in engineering is that of transfer functions. Simply defined, a transfer function…
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In order for any PID controller to be practical, it must be able to do more than just implement the PID…
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Pipe is a hollow structure designed to provide an enclosed pathway for fluids to flow, usually manufactured…
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The following photograph shows a large air blower in a wastewater treatment facility equipped with a…
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A 4 to 20 mA current signal represents some signal along a 0 to 100 percent scale. Usually, this scale is…
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Circuit breakers used in residential, commercial, and light industrial service are self-tripping devices: they…
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A pneumatic controller receives a process variable (PV) signal as a variable air pressure, compares that…
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At the next OSI Reference Model layer (layer 4) is a set of protocols specifying how reliable communication…
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Like many other mathematical operations, the derivative and the integral perform inverse operations from each…
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As described earlier in this chapter, calibration refers to the adjustment of an instrument so its output…
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Electrical power grids primarily consist of three-phase AC circuits. This means most power lines (transmission…
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A hand switch is exactly what the name implies: an electrical switch actuated by a person’s hand motion.…
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Valve actuators provide force to move control valve trim. For precise positioning of a control valve, there…
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A machine in the broad sense of the word is any device designed to translate some form of energy into useful…
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A great many precision instruments use the principle of balance to measure some quantity. Perhaps the simplest…
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All substances are comprised of various elements in various combinations and proportions. Elements may thus be…
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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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In reliability engineering, it is important to be able to quantity the reliability (or conversely, the…
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The following animation shows the calculus concepts of differentiation and integration (with respect to time)…
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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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Steam boilers are very common in industry, principally because steam power is so useful. Common uses for steam…
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(Will be addressed in future versions of this book)
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The purpose of a control valve actuator is to provide the motive force to operate a valve mechanism. Both…
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The term “grid” refers to the conductors and equipment interconnecting power sources to power…
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Disconnect Switches Disconnects are switches designed to isolate sections of a power system in case of damage…
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The two “process variables” we rely on most heavily in the field of electrical measurement and…
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Much of our knowledge about atomic structure comes from experimental data relating the interaction between…
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Some problem-solving techniques are unique to quantitative problems, involving mathematical calculations. In…
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The Law of Mass Conservation states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. The Law of Energy…
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Labwork is an essential part of any science-based curriculum. Here, much improvement may be made over the…
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Any physical location in an industrial facility harboring the potential of explosion due to the presence of…
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An important legacy technology for all kinds of continuous measurement is the self-balancing system. A…
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The dispersion of visible light into its constituent colors goes all the way back to the 17th century with…
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Disturbances in the liquid tend to complicate liquid level measurement. These disturbances may result from…
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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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Suppose we wished to measure the rate of propane gas flow through a hose to a torch: Flowmeters appropriate…
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Sensors used to measure vibration come in three basic types: displacement, velocity, and acceleration.…
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Converting between disparate units of measurement is the bane of many science students. The problem is worse…
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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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As discussed at the beginning of this chapter, instrumentation safety may be broadly divided into two…
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