Chapter 6 - Instrumentation

Instruments are an essential part of piping, they measure, monitor, transmit and control the variables that make up the process.
The four principal variables are level, flow, pressure and temperature.
The piping designer should have a working knowledge of instrumentation and process control because it is the piping departments’ responsibility to position these instruments on piping or equipment.  This location should be chosen to maximize the accuracy and repeatability of the instruments’ read out and will insure that operation and maintenance can be conveniently carried out.
Sensors to measure process conditions and valves to influence process operations are essential for all aspects of engineering practice.
While sensors and valves are important in all aspects of engineering, they assume greatest importance in the study of automatic control, which is termed process control when applied in the process industries.  Process control deals with the regulation of processes by applying the feedback principle using various computing devices, principally digital computation.  Process control requires sensors for measuring variables and valves for implementing decisions.
Measuring variables using sensors and displaying these values can be done locally, where a gauge would provide the read out, or where the signal would be transmitted to a remote control panel or to a controller.

Above is an excerpt from the chapters of the book: Detail Engineering and Layout of Piping Systems 5th Edition.
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