Ask the Automation Pros
This long-running series of discussions, curated by 2010 ISA Life Achievement Award recipient Greg McMillan, gathers responses from ISA subject-matter experts on technical topics important to industrial automation professionals, academics and students.
155 Results Found
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How to Select a System Integrator for an Industrial Automation Project
Look for an industrial systems integrator that can add value…not one that just does what you tell them. A good integrator will ask lots of questions so they fully understand your process. -
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Annubar or Orifice Flowmeter: What Is the Best Application for an Oil Storage Tank?
The permanent pressure loss is less for an annubar than an orifice flowmeter. -
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What Is the Proper Back Pressure Control Valve Type?
To minimize interaction between a back pressure loop and a flow loop in series, the pressure drop should be much greater across the flow control valve. -
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What Are Best Practices for Sizing a Pump Recycle Valve?
Recycle valves are used to maintain limited flow through a pump to avoid cavitation under dead-head or low flow conditions. -
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How Do You Handle Manual Operations in Industrial Process Control?
With a requirement for manual action, slow down transitions in manual operations by use of velocity limits on the setpoints of PID and analog output blocks. -
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How Do You Determine a Measurement Is Good Enough for Control?
Often measurement errors are expressed as a percent of full scale and are therefore larger in terms of percent of operating setpoint. -
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Are changes in pipeline pressure affecting your loop?
Are changes in pipeline pressure affecting your loop? -
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What are the best packed column temperature(s) for control?
What are the best packed column temperature(s) for control? -
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What Is the Effect of the Pump on Control Valves at Lower Rates?
What is the effect of the pump on control valves at lower rates? -
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Tutorial Download: How to Optimize Industrial Distillation and Reactor Performance
Excellent temperature control is the key to both distillation and reactor performance. -
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What Is the Best Way to Document a Control System?
It is possible to create a documentation format that works for design and construction and then can be gradually “morphed” into a format that meets the needs of production -
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How Do You Know When Feedforward Is Needed?
If on a trend recording a change in an input flow or speed (load) associated with a primary process loop causes a significant change in the primary process variable, there is an opportunity for feedfo -
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How to Select the Best Industrial Controller: MPC, Fuzzy Logic, or PID?
Linear programs and real-time optimization need the prediction to violation of constraints inherent in MPC. -
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ISA Mentor Program: A Guide to Success
The ISA Mentor Program connects early career professionals to seasoned professionals who are willing to help coach, guide, and share expertise. -
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Eliminate Deadtime with Mentoring and Social Media
You cannot avoid the need to spend time in the field. Knowledge can be accelerated by communicating with the "best," directly and through ISA publications







