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Have you ever had problems with process controls and electrical instrumentation?
The source may be ground loops. What's this? According to the ANSI/ IEEE
Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms, it's a "potentially
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detrimental loop formed when two or more points in an electrical system normally
at ground potential are connected by a conducting path such that either or both
points are not at the same ground potential."
You may have to ground at more than one point. For some instruments
(such as thermocouples and some analyzers), it may not be possible to eliminate
ground loops. That's because these instruments require a ground to make accurate
rate measurements. Also, all analog control loops are grounded at one or more
points. And as we've seen, multiple grounds can result in a ground loop that can
upset the proper functioning of instruments. You also may have to ground
instruments to ensure personnel safety.
So if you can't eliminate the conditions for ground loops, what's your next step?
You can use signal isolators. These devices break the galvanic path (DC continuity)
between all grounds while allowing the analog signal to continue throughout the
loop. An isolator can also eliminate the electrical noise of AC continuity (common-
mode voltage).
Signal isolators use one of two techniques to do the job. One is analog signal
isolation, which uses an isolation transformer to chop, isolate, and reconstruct the
signal. The other is discrete signal generation, which chops, transmits optically,
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signal. The other is discrete signal generation, which chops, transmits optically,
and reconstructs the signal. Signal isolators using the latter technique are referred
to as "opto-isolators." The choice between the two depends on
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requirements.
Regardless of the isolation method you choose, an isolator must provide input,
output, and power isolation. If you don't have this three-way isolation, then an
additional ground loop can develop between the isolator's power supply and the
process input and/or output signal.
Isolators, like most other transmitters, come in 2- and 4-wire versions. The 4-wire
type requires a separate power source and is partially suited for back-of-panel
mounting. You can power the 2-wire type from either the input or output loops.
The input loop type makes it possible to isolate a process signal when line power or
output loop power isn't available. The output loop type solves the problem of
interfacing non-isolated field signals with systems such as a computer, PLC, or
distributed control system, which provide loop-power to their output devices.
You can find a signal isolator to suit almost any application. Here are just a few.
Resistance input isolators for use as RTD, slidewire, strain, and potentiometer
transmitters.
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To minimize the danger of introducing these loops into a complicated network, you
should use a dedicated instrumentation system ground bus and connect grounds
from the signal common, cabinet ground, and instrumentation AC power ground to
it. The bus is tied to earth via the building ground and plant ground grid.
But, this can be much more complicated than it appears. For example, you will
rarely have just one instrumentation loop. In fact, you could have hundreds or even
thousands.
The cabinet ground is a safety ground that protects equipment and personnel from
accidental shock hazards. It also provides a direct drain line for any static charges
or electromagnetic interference (EMI) that may affect the cabinets. This cabinet
ground remains separate from the DC signal ground until it terminates at the
master ground bus.
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Suppose you have an instrumentation loop, as shown in the figure (in the original
article). As you can see, it's basically a DC system that operates at a specific voltage
(24V in our example) to a master ground reference called a signal ground. The
instrumentation signals vary within a range of 4mA to 20mA, depending on the
value of the variable (temperature, pressure, etc.) seen by the sensor.
Let's say a precisely calibrated circuit takes this mA signal and converts it into a 1V-
to-5V signal for a chart recorder. At 4mA, the voltage measured by the recorder is
1V (250 ohms2.004A). At 20mA, the measured voltage is 5V. Normally, the
recorder scale is calibrated so the voltage reads directly in DegrF, psi, etc.
TAGS: CONTENT
thanks, your very nice explanation about grounding, signaling... because some of electrical
engineers and instrumentation engineers debate the real practice of grounding both electrical
load and instrument load/power.
Reply | Edit post
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Some maintenance directly a ects employee safety. Do you know what that
is and what the requirements are?
Chapter 2 of NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace, provides
the requirements for practical safety-related maintenance of electrical equipment
and installations that fall under the Scope [90.2] of this standard [200.1]. The
thrust of Chapter 2 is to identify what needs maintaining for the purposes of
employee safety.
The first requirement is in Art. 205. Its also an OSHA requirement. Youll find an
OSHA-compliant definition in Art. 100. The requirement
Register on EC&M and gain access to premium content, including this article and much more.
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Workplace
JUL 16, 2014 Hazards
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INDUSTRY VIEWPOINT
INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES
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So be honest with me. This months magazine cover made you do a double take,
didnt it? With the goal to refresh, not necessarily reinvent, the look of our print
product, we tweaked our logo design and implemented a new color palette
aiming for something more contemporary and cleaner-looking. Why the change?
This move is part of a larger effort to create a more recognizable brand system
across the many magazines, websites, and events in the Penton Energy & Buildings
Group, which covers the following market segments:
Utility (T&D World, The Energy Times, Empowering Customers and Cities
Event)
Each and every one of the magazines, websites, and events noted above is
dedicated to providing high-value information to its audience through a mix of
news items, short- and long-form articles, special reports, photo galleries,
webinars, white papers, educational events, and more. If you visit the websites of
any of these properties, which I encourage you to do, you will now see a much
greater consistency in look and feel across our entire portfolio of products.
Speaking of websites The changes weve made in our magazine are minor in
comparison to the ones youll see when you visit ecmweb.com. Designed to provide
an improved user experience, our new website features infinite scrolling and faster
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page loading. You can now browse our content by subject via the dropdown menu
in the upper-left corner of our homepage. Whats more, with a responsive design,
the new website is optimized for mobile devices, meaning its much easier to access
and read on tablets and smartphones. This is a great fit for many of you who are
constantly on the go.
In support of our new look and website functionality, we thought it was also the
perfect time to expand our editorial focus a bit. While Lighting & Control, Energy
Management, Intelligent Buildings, and Renewables are not entirely new topics for
EC&M, youve indicated a need and a desire to know more in these areas. So we
plan to meet these needs with additional news, research, and technical coverage in
these areas.
But dont worry, we have no plans to stray from our core editorial focus in the areas
of the National Electrical Code (NEC), design, construction,
maintenance/repair/operations, safety, power quality, reliability, test &
measurement, and other important subjects youve come to know and expect from
us.
Please share your thoughts and opinions on the changes weve made by writing to
me at mike.eby@penton.com.
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Lightfair International 2017, held in Philadelphia from May 9-11, featured more
than 550 exhibitors, offering a wide range of architectural, commercial, industrial,
and residential lighting products. Promising innovations in sensors and controls
lined the aisles of the exhibit halls, but solid-state lighting (SSL) equipment
continued to dominate, since LEDs can be controlled down to the individual diode,
allowing for dynamic alteration of color, hue, and saturation.
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Dim to Warm, which mimics the warming effect of incandescent sources as they
are dimmed;
Scheduled White, which enables a user to set up both light intensity and CCT
across the day to simulate sunlight from sunrise to sunset, or an alternate user-
defined sequence;
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defined sequence;
Tunable White, which offers a personal preference on intensity and CCT; and
This years trade show in Philadelphia housed 592 exhibitors, including 59 first-time exhibiting companies and 127 manufacturers
headquartered outside the U.S. It also featured two brand-new attractions: the Intelligent Lighting and IoT pavilions.
Acuity Brands Lighting featured its Mainstream Dynamic tunable technology for
five different scenarios: Warm Dim, Tunable White, Architainment Color,
Grayscale, and Color Accent. The company also introduced LightFlex LED from
Sunoptics, an integrated tunable-white LED tubular daylighting system for
commercial environments, which combines both natural and tunable LED lighting.
Philips showed off four ceiling luminaires that have four presets that can enhance
classroom activities. The Standard setting covers common activities; the
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classroom activities. The Standard
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setting covers common activities; the
Solving Instrumentation Ground Loop Problems
Presentation setting features a warmer CCT: the Focus setting uses cooler CCT and
high intensity to provide optimum conditions for exams, and the Calm mode
features dimmed and warm-CCT light for relaxed activities.
In recognizing the potential for both tunable white devices and shading systems,
Lutron Electronics Co., Inc., has simplified and integrated its lighting control and
energy management programs, enabling them to respond to a keypad, a remote
device or a web-based graphic floor plan on a smart device. The shading systems
provide a key component for high-performance buildings, as they help to manage
both the thermal load and daylight entry at windows. In addition, the companys
Integral Fixture Control platform, the EcoSystem, operates a variety of tunable
white luminaires through alliances with companies like Lumenetix. The operation
is also compatible with Phillips Xitanium SR drives, eliminating the need for
auxiliary components.
After acquiring four lighting companies over the past few years, Leviton
Manufacturing Co. has set up a Lighting Business Unit. The firms DeoraSmart
family of products offers remote access, app-based scheduling, and voice control
for residential applications. The Samsung Electronics SmartThing Automation
Bundle by Leviton simplifies the installation of switches, sensors, and other devices
served by a number of wireless protocols.
Current, powered by GE, sees LED lighting as poised to become part of a larger
network that can soak up data and provide analytics that deliver additional
productivity and efficiency. Its expanded line of indoor and outdoor commercial
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productivity and efficiency. Its expanded line of indoor and outdoor commercial
and industrial LED luminaires can be networked wirelessly (using Daintree
Networks equipment) and be integrated with the companys industrial IoT
platform, Predix.
Cree, Inc., has expanded its OSQ Series of area and flood LED luminaires with the
addition of products rated from 341W to 550W, that deliver up to 65,000 lumens.
The company also introduced its SmartCast Intelligence Platform, a combination
of hardware (Power over Ethernet), innovative analytics software and services. The
SmartCast Advisor monitors the energy performance of a building and provides
insights for improvements. The ZR-C commercial troffer offers up to 125 lm/W
efficiency and SmartCast capability.
TLEDs, the LED replacement product for linear fluorescent lamps, with their
steadily improving performance, wide range of color temperatures, and 50,000
hour lifespans were widely seen on the exhibit floor. However, at present, no
standard wattages or lumen packages for this product category exist. Generally,
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standard wattages or lumen packages for this product category exist. Generally,
linear fluorescent lamps offer about 95 lm/W, while TLEDs offer 115 lm/W,
increasing at about 8 lm/W to 10 lm/W per year, in the short term.
Internal Driver/Line Voltage, Lamp-Style Retrofit Kits (UL Type B) in which the
ballast of the existing luminaire is bypassed and line voltage is delivered to the
lamp holders or sockets.
Dual-Mode Internal Driver (UL Type A and Type B) operate from the existing
ballast but also have the ability to operate on line voltage if the troffer is rewired to
bypass the ballast.
External Driver Lamp-Style Retrofit Kits (UL Type C) use lamps holders to
connect to the luminaire, which require rewiring to connect an external driver to
serve the TLEDs.
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Lightfair 2017: Mike Eby's Product Picks Lightfair 2017: Mike Eby's Product Picks
Part 09,
MAY 1 2017 Part 10,
MAY 2 2017
Lightfair 2017: Mike Eby's Product Picks How the IoT Could Really Shake Up the
Part 3 Lighting Business
MAY 11, 2017 MAY 12, 2017
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