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Instrumentation and control engineering

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Introduction

 
A control post of a steam turbine.

What is Instrumentation?

Instrumentation is defined as the art and science of measurement and control of process variables within a production or manufacturing area.[1] The process variables used in industries are Level, Pressure, Temperature, Humidity, Flow, pH, Force, Speed etc

What is Control Engineering?

Control engineering or control systems engineering is the engineering discipline that applies control theory to design systems with desired behaviors.Control engineers are responsible for the research, design, development and control devices/systems, typically in manufacturing facilities and plants.

What is Instrumentation and Control Engineering?

Instrumentation and control engineering is one of the brightest fields in engineering today. The Instrumentation Technology, being an inter-disciplinary branch of engineering, is heading towards development of new & intelligent sensors, smart transducers, MEMS Technology, Blue tooth Technology. This discipline finds its origin in both electrical and electronics engineering, and it covers subjects related to electronics, electrical, mechanical, chemical and computing streams. In short, it deals with measurement, automation and control processes.If you look at the today's scenario, there are many people who are willing to make a career in this stream. Almost all process and manufacturing industry such as steel, oil, petrochemical, power and defiance production will have a separate instrumentation and control department, which is manned and managed by instrumentation and control engineers. “Automation is the buzz word in process industry, and automation is the core job of instrumentation and control engineers. Hence, the demand for instrumentation will always be there."[2] .

Nature of job

An instrumentation and control engineer is required to[3]

  1. Design and develop control systems
  2. Maintain the existing control systems
  3. Manage the control systems
  4. Collaborate with design engineers, purchasers and other staff members involved in the production processes
  5. Manage projects within the given restraints including cost and time
  6. Troubleshoot
  7. Ensure that the instruments comply with health and safety regulations
  8. Ensure that quality standards are maintained
  9. Provide consultancy support

Requirement

Instrumentation and control engineers have a role to play in all the fields where there is automation.The instruments created by instrumentation and control engineers automate the processes, reducing the involvement of manpower. An instrumentation and control engineer is expected to learn subjects like

Knowledge of PLC programming, Panel view HMI screens, SCADA Application programming preferred.

Goal of Instrumentation and control engineers

 
Productivity (HDRI)

Instrumentation and control engineers works with the goal of improving

  • Productivity,
  • Optimization,
  • Stability,
  • Reliability,
  • Safety,
  • Continuity.

These engineers design, develop, and maintain and manage the instruments and the instrumentation systems

See also

 
Control

References

  1. ^ "Instrumentation ", The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology., Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Instrumentation engineering in demand", The Hindu, April 16, 2012
  3. ^ "Instrumentation and Control Engineering is for Perfectionists", Diksha P Gupta
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