7.0 Instrumentation and process control
7.1 Instrumentation
Instrumentation is defined as the science of measurement and control of process variables within a production, or manufacturing area. A device that measures and/or regulates physical quantity/process variables such as flow, temperature, level, or pressure is known as an instrument.
7.2 Process Variable
Common process variables include:
• Pressure
• Flow
• Density
• Mass
• Level
• PH (acidity or alkalinity)
• Liquid interface (the relative amounts of different liquids that are combined in a vessel)
• Temperature
• Conductivity
7.3 Control
In process industries control refers to the regulation of all aspects of the process. Precise control of temperature, pressure, level and flow is important in many process applications.
Process control refers to the methodologies that are used to control process variables while manufacturing a product. For example, factors such as the concentration of one ingredient to another, how well the ingredients are mixed, the temperature of the materials, and the pressure under which the materials are
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Sensing devices are the first element in the control loop to measure the process variable, thus they are also called primary elements. Examples of primary elements are:
• Pressure sensing diaphragms, strain gauges, capacitance cells
• Resistance temperature detectors (RTDs)
• Coriolis flow tubes
• Orifice plates
• Pitot tubes
• Venturi tubes
• Magnetic flow tubes
• Thermocouples
• Radar emitters and receivers
• Ultrasonic emitters and receivers
• Annubar flow elements
• Vortex
The equipment I had to calibrate was a pipette, top pan balance and a pH meter. Calibration is a marking a scale on a measuring instrument. This involves establishing the relationship between indications of a measuring instrument and standard or reference quantity values, which must be applied. Calibration is important when conducting an experiment. For example, broken or wrongly calibrated pH meters can give incorrect results, making the results useless.
Continuous improvement (CI) refers to a philosophy consisting of improvement activities that increase successes and reduce failures in a production process (Bhuiyan & Baghel 2005, p. 761). It involves activities and processes that focus on continuous and incremental innovation (Bessant et al., 1994, p.17). CI is a new approach that enhances productivity, performance, and achieves competitive advantage needed in the highly competitive industries. It may also serve as a complementary approach to other quality improvement initiatives such as total quality management (TQM) (Pike, Barnes, & Barnes 1995, p. 23; Larson 2003; Lassen, Gertsen, & Riis 2006; Oakland 2007, p. 227). The purpose of this research is to explore the application of production systems engineering methods in the CI at manufacturing plants.
chamber used as a control will be used to measure any changes due to air
It is a step of defining the goals of the projects and the results are aimed at reaching certain levels of productivity of customer satisfaction. The second stage is measure, and it is the stage of collecting data and facts and evaluating current operational performance. The third stage is analyze with the purpose of developing methods and theories that will best suit the solving of the problem; it is also a stage of detecting cause-and-effect ties of the processes. The fourth stage is improve, it is aimed at generating ideas for reaching the desired process improvement. Finally, there is the control stage that is about monitoring the operations to find out whether the process of improvement is smooth and the problems were solved (Meredith & Shafer,
Secondly, from years of quality control practice the firm established a well-know quality control procedure, "the Method". It has great value to the company in that it includes detail best practices for the production procedures which guarantees and improves the quality of the products. It serves as an efficient decision measure tool and a great training material.
Controlling in management is a function of management that is concerned with making sure that all other functions of the management are put in place and operated effectively. Controlling ensures that it has taken into consideration the monitoring of the output of the employees as well as the establishing standards of performance that will guarantee that the performance of the will always meets the set standards (Spellman,
GM uses this system by containment, disposition, separation, and classification. Such a system guarantees that any outcome that does not comply with specified requirements is restricted from unintended use, restrained, and dispositioned by the administrators. Accompanied by this quality control is the verifying position where first-time quality and process capacity is advanced (Drew, 2011). Every team member is informed about any modifications in the production process and who and when to summon for assistance in the event of any quandary. Every team is also included in the problem solving to reach any improvement in goals.
2. Photometer; after the chosen range of wavelength of light passes through the solution of a sample in cuvette, the photometer detects the amount of photons that is absorbed and then sends a
An oscilloscope is an electronic measuring instrument that creates a visible two-dimensional graph, on a screen, of one or more continuously varying voltages or currents. To read a signal in an oscilloscope the following steps are taken: voltage measurements, time and frequency measurements, pulse and rise measurements and phase shifts
In past few years, companies and industries of various sizes have become aware that they need to improve business processes such as product development, order fulfilment, planning, distribution, and customer service. So everybody is now focusing on doing process improvement or redesigning.
Immunosensor or commonly known as Biosensor came together by combining a biological receptors and a sensor to make one device. It is a device for the detection of an analyte. The analytical device which functions to analyze a sample for the presence of specific compound is the sensor and using a biological material to specifically interact with the analyte is known as biosensor. Biosensor involves converting a chemical flow of information into electric signal and is classified based on common types of bioreceptors. In general, the aim of biosensor is to enable quick convenient testing at the point of concern and care where the sample was procured.
Also in this method the workers on a piece rate so they got paid for what they made. In this method every one is responsible for the quality control. Instead of checking at the end of production, it is checked as the products are made at regular intervals. This means that the quality control is done in such a way that every one is involved.
There are three categories of control: policies, programs and technical control. Controls can be classified as :
Spectroscopy is measured using a spectrophotometer. A beam of light is first pointed towards the spectrophotometer. The beam of light then strikes a part of the spectrophotometer called the diffraction grating. The diffraction grating works similar to the prism shown above. It separates the light into its component wavelengths by rotating so that only a specific wavelength will reach a part of the spectrophotometer called the exit slit. On the other end of the exit slit there is a sample located in a test tube as well as a detector. After the wavelength passes through the sample, the detector measures the transmittance and absorption of the sample. The transmittance is the amount of light that was able to pass through the sample and reach the detector, and the absorption is the amount of light that was absorbed by the sample. The detector converts the measure of transmittance into s digital display, such as a graph.
Product designing, in this stage for continuous quality improvement the parameters of the design gets changed and the level of tolerance gets altered. This is very difficult for the manufacturing companies in implementation stage.