FUNDAMENTALS OF INDUSTRIAL INSTRUMENTATION AND PROCESS CONTROL

Abstract

T Preface he evolution of industrial processing and control has gone through several industrial revolutions to the complexities of modern day microprocessor controlled processing. Today’s technology evolution has made it possible to measure parameters deemed impossible only a few years ago, as well as improvements in accuracy, tighter control, and waste reduction. This text was specifically written as an introduction to modern day industrial instrumentation and process control for the two-year technical, vocational, or degree student and as a reference manual for managers, engineers, and technicians working in the field of instrumentation and process control. It is anticipated that the perspective student will have a basic understanding of mathematics, electricity, and physics. This course should adequately prepare a perspective candidate wishing to become a technician, or for the perspective engineer wishing to get a solid basic understanding of instrumentation and process control in this ever changing field. Instrumentation and process control involves a wide range of technologies and sciences, and is used in an unprecedented number of industrial applications from applications in the home and office such as heating and cooling control and hot water systems, to chemical and automotive instrumentation and process control. This text is designed to cover all aspects of industrial instrumentation, such as sensing a wide range of variables, the transmission and recording of the sensed signal, controllers for signal evaluation, and the control of the manufacturing process for a quality and uniform product. Chapter 1 gives an introduction to industrial instrumentation. Chapters 2–8 describe the wide range of sensors and their use in the measurement of a wide variety of physical variables, such as level, pressure, flow, temperature, humidity, density, position, force, and safety. Chapter 9 discusses signal conditioning, amplification, bridge circuits, and temperature compensation. The use of regulators and actuators for 16 controlling pressure, flow, and the control of the input variables to a process are discussed in Chap. 10. System configurations are given in Chap. 11 which cover ON/OFF systems and the types of feedback used in closed-loop systems. In Chap. 12, documentation as applied to instrumentation and control is introduced, together with standard symbols recommended by the Instrument Society of America (ISA) for use in instrumentation control diagrams. Electronics and pneumatics are the mediums for signal transmission, and control. The use of the HART protocol is considered together with analog-to-digital signal conversion in Chap. 13. Chapter 14 introduces number conversions, logic gates, and functional building blocks. Chapter 15 discusses the programmable logic controller and ladder diagrams. Finally, in Chap. 16, various types of electric motors and their use in process control are discussed. The primary reason for writing this book was that the author felt there was not a clear, concise, and up-to-date text for understanding the basics of instrumentation and process control from the perspective of the technician and engineer. The Second Edition has been expanded to try and cover as many of the basics as possible that are used in process control. Every effort has been made to ensure that the text is accurate, easily readable, and understandable. Both engineering and scientific units are discussed in the text. Each chapter contains worked examples for clarification, with exercise problems at the end of each chapter. A glossary is given at the end of the text. There are answers to the odd numbered questions in the Appendix. An instructor’s manual with answers to the problems is available online.