IntroductionPart II

In this book, Part I describes the engineering process and the participants and discusses project management concepts. Part III takes a real-world scenario, defines a scope of work, and generates the design products necessary to meet the scope. To make the transition from managing the project to generating the product, some background information needs to be presented hence, Part II. The instrumentation and controls field is a very dynamic one. As a result, its boundaries are continually shifting. Take the DCS versus PLC issue, for example. There is still a unique market for each, but the overlap has grown so large that it is difficult to clearly articulate the differences. Even the cost gap has narrowed significantly. Yet, many have strong opinions about the superiority of one over the other for a given situation. Before looking at design application, it is important to understand the nature of good design. What things must be considered when specifying a PLC? How do you design for a hazardous environment? Where do you go to study the industry standards on a topic? Part II presents a technical overview of some of the more salient aspects of the instrumentation and controls (I&C) profession. It is broken into three chapters: Chapter 4 provides some basic information about instrumentation signal conditioning. How is the output of a sensor processed into useful information for the operator? A scaling example is presented and a real-world problem is provided. Chapter 5 delves into design practice. What considerations should be included in the design? What is meant by the term failsafe? How is it possible to operate in explosive atmospheres? Much of instrumentation has to do with component identification. What is a good numbering scheme to facilitate maintenance? Chapter 6 dissects the control system. What is a DCS, and how has the DCS evolved? Where did the PLC originate, and what are considerations in its specification? What is a GUI, and what is involved in configuring one? What are some techniques for dealing with the input/output (I/O) interface? What is a systems integrator, and what kinds of services should a systems integrator be expected to provide?