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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…


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Rotating Magnetic Fields in Three-phase AC Induction Motors

Rotating Magnetic Fields in Three-phase AC Induction Motors

The following animation shows how the “rotating” magnetic field of a three-phase AC induction…


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Fluid Mechanics

Fluid Mechanics

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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Error Corrections

Error Corrections

Abdelaziz, Ahmed (June 2014) Identified numerous typographical errors throughout the book, mostly repeated…


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Tuning PID Controllers

Tuning PID Controllers

Learning how to tune PID controllers is a skill born of much practice. Regardless of how thoroughly you may…


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Understanding the “Normal” Status of a Process Switch

Understanding the “Normal” Status of a Process Switch

Perhaps the most confusing aspect of discrete sensors is the definition of a sensor’s normal status.…


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Antennas and Resonant Circuits (Tank Circuits)

Antennas and Resonant Circuits (Tank Circuits)

Capacitors store energy in electric fields, proportional to the square of voltage. Inductors store energy in…


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Proximity Switches

Proximity Switches

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


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Digital Representation of Text

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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Thermocouple Types, Junctions, Connector and Tip Styles

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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Process/Instrument Suitability

Process/Instrument Suitability

Every flow-measuring instrument exploits a physical principle to measure the flow rate of fluid stream.…


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Energy in Chemical Reactions

Energy in Chemical Reactions

A chemical reaction resulting in a net release of energy is called exothermic. Conversely, a chemical reaction…


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Problem-solving by Simplification

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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Level Switches

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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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…


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Techniques for Analyzing Control Strategies

Techniques for Analyzing Control Strategies

Control strategies such as cascade, ratio, feedforward, and those containing limit and selector functions can…


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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…


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Process and Instrument Diagrams

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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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…


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Displacement and Displacer Level Instrumentation

Displacement and Displacer Level Instrumentation

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


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Troubleshooting Current Loops

Troubleshooting Current Loops

A fundamental principle in instrumentation system troubleshooting is that every instrument has at least one…


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Split-Range Control

Split-Range Control

There are many process control applications in the industry where it is desirable to have multiple control…


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Pressure Sensor Accessories

Pressure Sensor Accessories

Multiple accessories exist for pressure-sensing devices to function optimally in challenging process…


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Proportional-only Offset

Proportional-only Offset

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


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Antennas and Resonant Circuits (Tank Circuits)

Antennas and Resonant Circuits (Tank Circuits)

Capacitors store energy in electric fields, proportional to the square of voltage. Inductors store energy in…


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Techniques for Analyzing Control Strategies

Techniques for Analyzing Control Strategies

Control strategies such as cascade, ratio, feedforward, and those containing limit and selector functions can…


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Classified Areas and Electrical Safety Measures

Classified Areas and Electrical Safety Measures

Any physical location in an industrial facility harboring the potential of explosion due to the presence of…


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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…


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Basic Feedback Control Principles

Basic Feedback Control Principles

Feedback Control System Components Before we begin our discussion on process control, we must define a few key…


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Limit, Selector, and Override Controls

Limit, Selector, and Override Controls

Another category of control strategies involves the use of signal relays or function blocks with the ability…


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Transfer Function Analysis

Transfer Function Analysis

An extremely important topic in engineering is that of transfer functions. Simply defined, a transfer function…


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Valve Packing

Valve Packing

Regardless of valve type, all stem-actuated control valves require some form of seal allowing motion of the…


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Instantaneous and Time-overcurrent (50/51) Protection

Instantaneous and Time-overcurrent (50/51) Protection

Perhaps the most basic and necessary protective relay function is overcurrent: commanding a circuit breaker to…


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Ladder Diagram (LD) Structure Commands

Ladder Diagram (LD) Structure Commands

The simple PLC ladder diagram (LD) commands consist of contacts and coils, arranged in sequences that mimic…


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Phasor Analysis of Transformer Circuits

Phasor Analysis of Transformer Circuits

Three-phase AC is the dominant mode of electric power generation and distribution in modern societies.…


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Level Sensor Accessories

Level Sensor Accessories

Disturbances in the liquid tend to complicate liquid level measurement. These disturbances may result from…


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How Derivatives and Integrals Relate to One Another

How Derivatives and Integrals Relate to One Another

Like many other mathematical operations, the derivative and the integral perform inverse operations from each…


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Energy in Chemical Reactions

Energy in Chemical Reactions

A chemical reaction resulting in a net release of energy is called exothermic. Conversely, a chemical reaction…


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Concepts and Laws of Probability

Concepts and Laws of Probability

While the term “probability” may evoke images of imprecision, probability is in fact an exact…


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Temperature Sensor Accessories

Temperature Sensor Accessories

One of the most important accessories for any temperature-sensing element is a pressure-tight sheath known as…


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Classical Mechanics

Classical Mechanics

Classical mechanics (often called Newtonian mechanics in honor of Isaac Newton) deal with forces and motions…


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Measuring Electrical Conductivity

Measuring Electrical Conductivity

The electrical conductivity of liquids is an important analytical measurement in many industrial processes.…


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Introduction to Capacitors and Capacitance

Introduction to Capacitors and Capacitance

Capacitance Any two electrical conductors separated by an insulating medium possess the characteristic called…


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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…


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Valve Positioners

Valve Positioners

The reason why a pneumatic control valve’s stem position corresponds linearly to the amount of air…


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Electrical Pressure Elements

Electrical Pressure Elements

Several different technologies exist for the conversion of fluid pressure into an electrical signal response.…


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Active Reading and Outlining Documentation

Active Reading and Outlining Documentation

Learning from reading printed text is a kind of problem-solving activity it is own right. The problem is how…


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ANSI/IEEE Function Number Codes

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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Phasors, Phase Shift, and Phasor Algebra

Phasors, Phase Shift, and Phasor Algebra

Phasors are to AC circuit quantities as polarity is to DC circuit quantities: a way to express the…


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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…


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Function Block Diagram (FBD) Programming

Function Block Diagram (FBD) Programming

(Will be addressed in future versions of this book)


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Scientific System diagnosis and Scientific Reasoning

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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Fluorescence Measurement

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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Dimensional Analysis

Dimensional Analysis

An interesting parallel to the “unity fraction” unit conversion technique is something referred to…


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Vibration Monitoring Hardware

Vibration Monitoring Hardware

The following photograph shows a large air blower in a wastewater treatment facility equipped with a…


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Temperature Sensor Accessories

Temperature Sensor Accessories

One of the most important accessories for any temperature-sensing element is a pressure-tight sheath known as…


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Proportional-only Offset

Proportional-only Offset

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


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Understanding How Three-phase Electric Motors Work

Understanding How Three-phase Electric Motors Work

The key to understanding how three-phase electric motors work is to have an accurate mental picture of the…


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What are Simple Machines?

What are Simple Machines?

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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Safety Gas Analyzers

Safety Gas Analyzers

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


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