Some General Instrumentation Terms and Measurements Process The physical system we are trying to control or measure. Examples: water filtration system, molten metal casting system, steam boiler, oil refining unit, power generation unit. Process variable, or PV A specific quantity we measure in a process. Examples: pressure , level , temperature , current , electrical conductivity, pH, position, motion, vibration . Setpoint, or SP The value at which we want the process variable to be maintained. and is also known as the target value of the process variable. Primary Sensing Element, or PSE A device that directly senses a process variable and translates that sensed quantity into an analog representation (electrical voltage, current, resistance; mechanical force, velocity, etc.). Examples: thermocouple, thermistor, Borden tube, microphone, potentiometer, electrochemical cell, accelerometer. Transducer A device that converts one standardized signal to another standardized instrumentation si

Analog Signal An analog signal is a continuous signal and an analog signal represents the equivalent of another quantity. Basically an analog signal is a continuous electrical signal. Analog signals are used to carry information. Basically this signal is represented by a sine wave and this signal has a continuous range of values. Generally analog signals are used only in analog devices. Examples of analog signals are natural sounds, human voices, analog phones, old land line telephones, etc. Basically instrumentation devices use 4 to 20 mA or 0 to 20 mA signals. And this instrument or controller keeps this voltage constant and takes it as current signal. An analog signal is a form of electrical energy such as voltage, current. Analog signal is more accurate than digital signal and analog signal has infinite memory. Analog signals produce more noise and analog signals have lower bandwidth

Process Flow Diagram   A process flow diagram is also known as a PFD. Process flow diagram commonly used in process or chemical plants, this flow diagram covers the basic flow of plant processes and equipment. A process flow diagram usually shows the relationship between the main equipment of a plant. Basically a process flow diagram is a simple diagram that shows details about the process flow for a process plant. A process flow diagram is used to show details about a process or design situation in one picture, the main process equipment, the main process flow, these equipment and the basic process control scheme. Some process flow diagrams show the entire process of a plant A process flow diagram will include operational data such as process piping, major equipment, major bypass streams, major recycle streams, connections to other systems, operational data (temperature, pressure, mass flow rate, density, and more), name process streams.

Control engineering Control engineering also called control systems engineering is the engineering discipline that applies control theory to design systems with desired behaviors. 

 Instrumentation Engineering Basically instrumentation engineering deals with various types of instrument measurement, control and automation industry. An instrumentation engineer is a combination of various engineering disciplines such as chemical, mechanical, electrical, electronic and computer. Instrumentation Engineering is an engineering degree that deals with various types of measuring instruments, designing automated systems or different automated systems used in industry. Engineers in this field work in automated processes such as chemical industries, manufacturing plants, and the basic function of an instrument engineer is to improve system productivity, reliability, safety, and stability. The main purpose of an instrumentation engineer is to design, maintain and troubleshoot different control systems for his client or industry. Instrumentation technicians basically do troubleshooting and maintenance of control systems What is Instrumentation Engineering? Basically instrumenta

Instrumentation and control engineering Instrumentation and control engineering is the study of process variable measurements and controllers. Instrumentation and Control Engineering is a combination of two disciplines Instrumentation Engineering and Control Engineering. Instrumentation and control engineering consisting of field instrument (PLC, DCS, SCADA, sensor, Actuator etc.), control system, automatic equipment or equipment used in industries. Instrumentation & control engineering basically aims to automate industry and improve product quality, stability, reliability and reduce labor costs or human error. Also ICE deals with safety systems like FAS (Fire Alarm System), SIS (Safety Instrumented System), ESD System (Emergency Shutdown System) in power plant. Basically, i&c engineer jobs are available in oil and gas, petrochemical, biomedical, food and beverage, manufacturing industries. Basically the job of Instrumentation and Control Engineer is to design and control the s