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I N I N STRUM EN TATI ON A N D HOW TO AVOI D THEM

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THE FOUR BI GGEST M I STA KES I N I N STRUM EN TATI ON . . . A
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De spit e ongoing a dva nce m e nt s in m e a sure -
m e nt a nd com m unicat ions t e chnology, inst ru-
m e nt ing a proce ss f or f e e dba ck cont rol
re m a ins a t e chnica l cha lle nge . Today s se nsors
a re ce rt a inly m ore sophist icat e d t ha n eve r
be f ore , a nd f ie ldbus t e chnology ha s sim plif ie d
m a ny inst a llat ion issue s conside ra bly.
N one t he le ss, m uch ca n st ill go w rong w it h a n
inst rum e nt at ion proje ct .
The proble m lie s in t he st ra ight f orw a rd nat ure
of inst rum e nt at ion proje ct s: e a ch va ria ble t o be
m e a sure d m ust be m at che d w it h t he m ost
a ppropriat e se nsor; t he se nsor m ust be
inst a lle d, ca librat e d, a nd int e rf a ce d t o t he con-
t rolle r; a nd t he inf orm at ion ge ne rat e d by t he
se nsor m ust be f ilt e re d, f a ct ore d, a nd f ile d in
orde r t o give t he cont rolle r a n a ccurat e pict ure
of w hat s going on in t he proce ss. This a ppa r-
e nt sim plicit y is w hat of t e n le a ds t o a f a lse
se nse of se curit y a nd m isst e ps in a m ine f ie ld
of pot e nt ia l proble m s.
W it h t hat in m ind, he re a re f our circum st a nce s
you de f init e ly w a nt t o avoid.
>> M ist a ke # 1 :
Se le ct ing t he w rong
se nsor
Technology m ism atch
A lthough its generally obvious
w hat quantity needs to be m eas-
ured in a flow , tem perature, or
pressure control application, its not
alw ays obvious w hat kind of flow
m eter, tem perature sensor, or pres-
sure gauge is best suited to the
job. A m ism atch betw een the sens-
ing technology and the m aterial to
be sensed can lead to skew ed
m easurem ents and severely
degraded control.
This is especially true w hen
m easuring flow rates. A ll flow
m eters are designed to m easure
the rate at w hich a gas or liquid
has been passing through a partic-
ular section of pipe, but not all flow
m eters can m easure all flow s. A
m agnetic flow m eter or m agm eter,
for exam ple, can only detect the
flow of electrically conductive
m aterials by m eans of m agnetic
induction. N on-conductive fluids
like pure w ater w ill pass through a
m agm eter undetected.
M agm eters also have trouble
distinguishing air bubbles from the
fluid in the pipe. A s a result, a
m agm eter w ill alw ays yield an artifi-
cially high reading w hen bubbles
pass through because it cannot
sense the decrease in fluid volum e
caused by the presence of the
bubbles. In a feedback loop, this
occurrrence w ould cause the con-
troller to throttle back the flow rate
m ore than necessary, preventing
the required volum e of fluid from
reaching the dow nstream process.
The problem gets even w orse if
the pipe is so full of air that it is
only partially filled w ith liquid, a
condition know n as open channel.
A lthough recent technological inno-
vations allow certain m agm eters to
w ork in such a challenging environ-
m ent, m echanical sensors such as
turbines yield artificially high read-
ings, since a trickle of fluid w ill
m ove the m eters m echanism just
as m uch as a full-pipe flow travel-
ing at the sam e speed. O n the
other hand, m echanical sensors
are not affected by the conductivity
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N . . . A N D HOW TO AVOI D THEM
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1
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of the fluid, so they w ill som etim es
w ork w here m agm eters fail.
A n even m ore challenging appli-
cation is the m easurem ent of pH in
a caustic liquid such as the slurries
found in paper m ills. A general-pur-
pose pH probe m ade of corrodible
m aterials m ight not only generate
inaccurate data, it m ight die alto-
gether, som etim es w ithin a m atter
of days. Som e probes, such as
those offered by A B B , are specifi-
cally designed for such tough envi-
ronm ents. They can double, triple,
and even quadruple probe life in
m any applications.
The trick is to find the right tech-
nology for the application, or to
choose instrum ents that span a
broader range of solutions. For
exam ple, new digital technologies
allow som e flow m eters to solve
m any m ore flow problem s than
their predecessors.
Instrum entation vendors can be
of help in avoiding the technology
m ism atch m istake. The best ven-
dors train their sales people to
assist w ith sensor selection and
provide clients w ith easy-to-use
selection guides. Som e even offer
extensive look-up tables based on
product num ber, application, and
serial num bers of past installations
an especially useful service w hen
replacing older products.
Finding all the right parts can
also be a challenge. Som e instru-
m ents require specific housings,
m ounting hardw are, and transm it-
ters to forw ard the sensors data to
the controller. The right vendor can
m ake all the difference by provid-
ing the entire assem bly under a
single catalog num ber. W hen it
com es to tem perature instrum enta-
tion, for exam ple, training costs
and purchasing effort are reduced
w hen then vendor offers com pati-
ble probes and transm itters togeth-
er as a package.
Paying too m uch (or too little)
C orrect sensor selection is also a
m atter of balancing cost against
perform ance. W hen theres a
choice of equally effective tech-
nologies, the right choice is gener-
ally the cheapest one that gets the
job done.
Tem perature instrum entation is a
classic exam ple. The tw o dom inant
technologies are resistance tem -
perature detectors (RTD s) and
therm ocouples. A n RTD consists of
a m etal plate or rod through w hich
a current is passed. The resistance
that the current encounters varies
w ith the tem perature of the m etal. A
therm ocouple consists of tw o dis-
sim ilar m etal w ires joined together
at one end. The voltage betw een
the unjoined ends varies w ith the
tem perature of the joint. B oth yield
voltages that can be electronically
interpreted to indicate the tem pera-
ture of the surroundings.
Therm ocouples are generally
cheaper, though less accurate than
RTD s. If the application does not
require particularly tight tem pera-
ture control, an inexpensive therm o-
couple and a w ell-tuned PID loop
should do the trick. B ut for process-
es that w ill only w ork correctly at
very specific tem peratures, it w ould
be a m istake not to pay for the
greater accuracy that an RTD
affords. The cost of scrapping a
batch of under-cooked or scorched
products w ould eventually dw arf
any savings in equipm ent costs.
A fast sensor can also be w orth
the extra cost. If the process
requires a rapid succession of
heating and cooling cycles, the
tem perature sensor m ust be able
to generate a reading before its too
late to be of any use. D espite their
cheaper pedigree, therm ocouples
tend to respond faster than RTD s
so if speed is the only im portant
perform ance issue, choose a
therm ocouple.
>> M ist a ke # 2 :
I nst a lling se nsors
incor re ct ly
Placem ent
The best sensor can yield disap-
pointing results if not installed cor-
rectly. M agm eters, for exam ple,
tend to generate noisy signals if the
flow theyre m easuring is turbulent.
B ends, junctions, and valves in a
pipe can all cause turbulence, thus
m agm eters w ork best w hen
installed in sections of straight
pipe.
Tem perature sensors are also
sensitive to placem ent. Even a
highly accurate RTD tucked in the
corner of a m ixing cham ber w ill
only be able to detect the tem pera-
ture of its im m ediate vicinity. If the
m ixing of the m aterial in the cham -
ber is incom plete, that local tem -
perature m ay or m ay not represent
the tem perature of the m aterial
elsew here in the cham ber.
Local tem perature issues are
the classic m istake that hom e heat-
ing contractors often m ake w hen
installing household therm ostats. A
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THE FOUR BI GGEST M I STA KES I N I N STRUM EN TATI ON . . . A
m ounting location closest to the
furnace m ay be convenient for
w iring purposes, but if that spot
happens to be in a hallw ay or other
dead air space, the therm ostat w ill
not be able to determ ine the aver-
age tem perature elsew here in the
house. It w ill only be able to m ain-
tain the desired tem perature in its
im m ediate vicinity. The rest of the
house m ay end up roasting or
freezing.
C ontroller perform ance
Poor control also results w hen a
sensor is installed too far aw ay
from the associated actuator. A dis-
tant sensor m ay not be able to
m easure the effects of the actua-
tors last m ove in tim e for the con-
troller to m ake an educated deci-
sion about w hat to do next.
For exam ple, consider the
process of flattening hot steel into
uniform sheets by m eans of tw o
opposing rollers (see Figure 1). A
thickness sensor dow nstream from
the rollers gauges the sheet and
causes the controller to apply
either m ore or less pressure to
com pensate for any out-of-spec
thickness.
Ideally, the thickness sensor
should be located adjacent to the
rollers to m inim ize the tim e
betw een a change in roller pres-
sure and the resulting change in
the thickness m easurem ent.
O therw ise, the controller w ill not be
able to detect any m istakes it m ay
have been m aking soon enough to
prevent even m ore of the sheet
from turning out too thick or thin.
W orse still, an appreciable dead
tim e betw een the controllers
actions and the resulting effects on
the steel can cause the controller
to becom e im patient. It w ill see no
results from an initial control m ove,
so it w ill m ake another and another
until som e change begins to
appear in the m easurem ents
reported by the sensor. B y that
tim e, the controllers cum ulative
efforts w ill have already overcom -
pensated for the original error,
causing an error in the opposite
direction. The result w ill be a con-
stant series of up and dow n sw ings
in the roller pressure and a lot of
steel ruined by lateral corrugations.
O f course, overall process per-
form ance considerations arent lim -
ited to how w ell the sensor feeds
data to the controller during opera-
tion. O ther factors to consider
include ease of installation and
tim e spent on the selection
process, set up routines, and any
labor-intensive m aintenance.
Fortunately, som e instrum entation
vendors design their sensors to
accom m odate such challenges,
thereby im proving perform ance
before the system even goes on-
line. A B B , for instance, offers a
sw irl flow m eter that significantly
reduces the need to install special
upstream and dow nstream devices
to accurately m easure the flow
through a pipe.
Protection
A steel m ill is also a classic exam -
ple of a harsh environm ent that can
destroy inadequately protected
sensors. Fortunately, the hazards
posed by a m anufacturing process
are generally obvious and can often
be overcom e by installing a shield
or choosing a rugged instrum ent.
O ften overlooked, how ever, are
the effects of w eather. O utdoor
instrum ents can take quite a beat-
ing from rain, snow , hail, and falling
CONTROLLER
D
PISTON
ADJUSTABLE
ROLLER
FIXED
ROLLER
OPTICAL
THICKNESS
GAUGE
FI GURE 1 . POOR SEN SOR PLACEM EN T
In this steel rolling exam ple, D is the distance betw een the steel rollers and the thickness
gauge dow nstream . If D is too large, the controller w ill take too long to correct thickness
errors and m ay even m ake m atters w orse by becom ing im patient.
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N . . . A N D HOW TO AVOI D THEM
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Instrum ents m ust be
grounded to provide
a reference voltage
for the data signals
they generate.
R elying on earth
ground is risky since
not all of the earth
shares the sam e
electrical potential.
The resulting currents
w ill interfere w ith the
sensorssignals.
ice. O ver tim e, outdoor instrum ents
can fail slow ly unless enclosed in
appropriate housings.
B ut even the housings them -
selves can cause problem s for the
enclosed instrum ents, particularly
tem perature sensors. If an RTD or
therm ocouple is m ounted on the
sam e piece of m etal that supports
the housing, the housing w ill w ork
like a heat sink w hen the am bient
tem perature drops low enough. It
w ill tend to draw heat out of the
sensor and artificially low er its
reading. The heat-sink effect w ill
also tend to reduce the benefits of
any internal heat that has been
applied to prevent an instrum ent
from freezing.
C onversely, if a housing is
equipped w ith fins intended to
draw heat out of the enclosed sen-
sor during w arm w eather, the fins
m ust be m ounted vertically.
O therw ise, the w arm air around the
fins w ill not be able to rise aw ay
from the housing (see Figure 2).
G round loops
W hile its generally a good practice
to insulate a sensor from the ther-
m odynam ic effects of its surround-
ings, its absolutely critical to estab-
lish electrical isolation. The m ost
com m on electrical problem s due to
poor installation are ground loops.
G round loops occur w hen an
extraneous current flow s through
the instrum entation w iring betw een
tw o points that are supposed to be
at the sam e voltage, but arent (see
Figure 3). The resulting electrical
interference can cause random
fluctuations in the sensorsoutput
and m ay even dam age the sensors
them selves.
A s the nam e im plies, ground
loops m ostoften occurw hen instru-
m ents and theircables are ground-
ed im properly or not at all.
Interestingly, the best w ay to isolate
a plants instrum ents from ground
loop currents is to connect them
together at one m aster grounding
point.
If thats not possible, a grid of
grounding points m ust be spread
throughout the plant, m aking sure
that all points on the grid are at
the sam e electrical potential.
Insecure connections and inade-
quate w ires can cause a voltage
im balance in the grid and ground
loops betw een the instrum ents
connected to it.
Even the orientation of an instrum ent can affect its perform ance. H ere, the sensor
is enclosed in a housing designed to dissipate the heat it generates. The fins m ust
be m ounted vertically to allow w arm air to escape.
FI GURE 2 . POOR M OUN TI N G
}
Data signals
to I/O panel
}
Earth grounds at
unequal voltages
}
Instruments
Ground loop currents
FI GURE 3 . POOR GROUN DI N G
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THE FOUR BI GGEST M I STA KES I N I N STRUM EN TATI ON . . . A
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>> M ist a ke # 3 :
Ge ne rat ing gibbe r ish
N oise
G round loops are not the only
source of noise that can distort a
sensors readings. R adio frequency
interference (R FI) is even m ore
com m on in plants that use w alkie-
talkies, pagers, and w ireless net-
w orks extensively. R FI also results
w henever a current changes, such
as w hen an electrom echanical con-
tact or a static discharge generates
a spark.
The sources of R FI noise m ust
be elim inated or at least kept aw ay
from the plants instrum entation if at
all possible. R eplacing electro-
m echanical equipm ent w ith solid-
state devices w ill elim inate arc-gen-
erated R FI. O r, it m ay be sufficient
to sim ply relocate sw itch boxes
and relays to instrum ent-free areas
of the plant. If all else fails, it m ay
be possible to passively shield the
source of the interference or the
instrum ents being subjected to it.
Ignoring the problem is not an
option, especially w hen the source
of the noise is ordinary house cur-
rent. A t 60 H z, house current oscil-
lates slow ly enough to have an
appreciable effect on som e
processes.
C onsider the steel rolling appli-
cation again. A 60 H z noise super-
im posed on the output of the thick-
ness gauge w ill pass through the
controller and induce a 60 H z oscil-
lation in the roller pressure. If the
sheet exits the rollers w ith a veloci-
ty of six feet per second, those
oscillations w ill appear as bum ps in
the sheet appearing every tenth of
an inch. W hether those flaw s are
appreciable or not w ill depend on
the am plitude of the original noise
signal, the inertia of the rollers, and
the tuning of the controller.
PID controllers tuned to provide
appreciable derivative action are
particularly susceptible to the
effects of m easurem ent noise. They
tend to react aggressively to every
blip in the m easurem ent signal to
quickly suppress deviations from
the setpoint. If a blip turns out to
be nothing but noise, the controller
w ill take unw arranted corrective
actions and m ake m atters w orse.
Filtering
U nfortunately, it is not alw ays pos-
sible to elim inate noise sources
altogether. It is often necessary to
filter the raw sensor data by aver-
aging several sam ples together or
by ignoring any changes less than
som e sm all percentage. M any digi-
tal instrum ents, like A B B s FSM
4000 flow m eter, com e equipped
w ith built-in filters.
H ow ever, it is a m istake to think
that num ber crunching alone can
fix all m easurem ent noise prob-
lem s. Filtering tends to increase the
tim e required to detect a change in
the m easured value and can even
introduce spurious inform ation into
the signal. W orse still, it can m ask
the actual behavior of the process
if it is overdone.
It is generally m ore cost-effec-
tive in the long run to install sen-
sors correctly and m inim ize the
sources of interference than to rely
strictly on m athem atics to separate
the data from the noise. W hen con-
structing a control loop, data filters
should be applied in the final
stages of the project, just before
loop tuning.
M ist a ke # 4 :
Quit t ing t oo soon
Even w hen the data filters are in
place and the last loop has been
tuned, the project isnt over. There
are som e com m only neglected
chores that should continue as
long as the instrum entation system
is in place.
C alibration
M ost instrum entation engineers
know that a sensor m ust be cali-
brated in order to associate a
num erical value w ith the electrical
signal com ing out of the transm itter.
Yet all too often, the instrum ents are
calibrated just once during installa-
tion then left to operate unattended
for years.
The result is an insidious prob-
lem know n as drift. A sensors out-
put tends to creep higher and high-
er (or low er and low er), even if the
m easured variable hasnt changed.
D eposition on the sensing sur-
faces, corrosion in the w iring, and
long term w ear on m oving parts
can all cause an instrum ent to
begin generating artificially high (or
low ) readings. A s a result, the con-
troller w ill gradually increase or
decrease its control efforts to com -
pensate for a non-existent error.
A nalog instrum ents are particu-
larly susceptible to drift, m uch like
old FM radios. The slightest nudge
on the dial could cause the radio to
lose its signal. W ith m odern digital
radios, the one true frequency for
each station is digitally encoded at
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N . . . A N D HOW TO AVOI D THEM
a fixed value. Sim ilarly, m odern
instrum ents that em ploy digital sig-
nal processing cant be nudged.
They m aintain the sam e calibration
in the field as in the lab.
D rift can also be reduced by the
choice of sensing technology.
Tem perature sensors w ith m ineral
insolated cables, for exam ple, are
less prone to drift. D rift due to w ear
can be elim inated entirely by
choosing instrum ents w ith no m ov-
ing parts, like A B B s sw irl and vor-
tex m eters.
A nd even w hen drift cannot be
elim inated, recalibrating every sen-
sor in the plant at intervals recom -
m ended by their m anufacturers
can accom m odate it. U nfortunately,
project engineers are often so anx-
ious to finish a job and get on w ith
operating the process that they
neglect such basic m aintenance.
A rguably the m ost challenging
sources of drift are those that vary
over tim e. D eteriorating probes and
m oving parts beginning to w ear out
can slow ly change an instrum ents
accuracy. So m aintenance calibra-
tion is required periodically even if
there are no know n issues w ith the
instrum ent.
Som e m anufacturers are recog-
nizing the tim e and efforts involved
in traditional recalibration exercises
and are designing instrum entation
products to sim plify m atters. For
exam ple, the C alM aster portable
calibrator from A B B provides in-situ
calibration verification and certifica-
tion of A B B s M agM aster electro-
m agnetic flow m eters w ithout requir-
ing access to the flow m eter or
opening the pipe.
Instead, the operator sim ply
connects a C alM aster to the
flow m eters transm itter and a PC . A
W indow s interface guides the oper-
ator through a series of tests to
evaluate the status of the transm it-
ter, sensor, and interconnecting
cables. The tests are com plex, but
so autom ated that the w hole cali-
bration routine can be accom -
plished in 20 m inutes.
O nce the tests are com plete,
C alM aster w ill evaluate the m eas-
urem ents taken. If all satisfy the cali-
bration requirem ents, then a calibra-
tion certificate can be printed either
at that tim e or later. These certifi-
cates can then be catalogued in
order to m eet auditing and regulato-
ry requirem ents such as ISO 9001.
A n added benefit of C alM aster
is that it can be used as a diag-
nostic and condition m onitoring
tool. It autom atically stores all
m easured values and calibration
inform ation in its ow n database
files for each m eter, thus m aintain-
ing a calibration history log and
m aking it easier to undertake long-
term trend analysis. D etailed
observation can give early w arning
of possible system failure,
enabling the m aintenance engi-
neer to anticipate problem s and
take proactive rem edial action.
Such autom ated system s m ake
routine verification of flow m eter cal-
ibration and the traceability of infor-
m ation m uch less cum bersom e
and costly than in the past. In the
w ater industry, for exam ple, such
tasks form erly entailed m echanical
excavation of the flow m eter result-
ing in a disruption of the w ater sup-
ply and a substantial investm ent in
m anpow er and equipm ent.
Pla nning f or t he roa d
a he a d
A ll too often, an expansion proj-
ect begins w ith w eeks of w onder-
ing w hy the existing instrum enta-
tion system w as constructed the
w ay it w as and w hy it doesnt
m atch the projects original plans.
To avoid this, future planning
should be a part of your im ple-
m entation process and also
include thorough docum entation
of w hats been done before.
Som eone w ill eventually w ant to
expand the project and w ill need
to know exactly w hich instru-
m ents have been placed w here,
w hat the instrum ents w ere sup-
posed to be accom plishing, and
how they w ere installed and con-
figured.
Even if the instrum entation sys-
tem is never expanded, it w ill even-
tually have to be repaired. W ires
break and sensors w ear out. A
good inventory of the system com -
ponents w ill indicate w hat needs to
be replaced, but thats only half the
battle. R eplacem ent parts m ust be
acquired along w ith the technical
specs necessary to install them
correctly.
A n ongoing replacem ent parts
program is a m ust. Either the origi-
nal vendor m ust m ake provisions
for stocking replacem ents (or
upgrades) for all the instrum ents
theyve provided to date, or the
project engineers m ust continue to
m onitor their suppliers to m ake
sure that spare parts rem ain avail-
able. For hard-to-find instrum ents, it
m ay even be necessary to m aintain
an in-house supply of replacem ent
parts, just in case.
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