Instrumentation

Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating,

measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and
science about making measurement instruments, involving the related areas of metrology,
automation, and control theory. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific
instrument-making.

Instrumentation can refer to devices as simple as direct-reading thermometers, or as

complex as multi-sensor components of industrial control systems. Instruments can be
found in laboratories, refineries, factories and vehicles, as well as in everyday household
use (e.g., smoke detectors and thermostats).

Measurement parameters
Instrumentation is used to measure many parameters
(physical values), including:

Pressure, either differential or static

Flow
Temperature
Levels of liquids, etc.
Moisture or humidity
Density
Viscosity
ionising radiation
Frequency
Current
Voltage
Control valve
Inductance
Capacitance
Resistivity
Chemical composition
Chemical properties
Toxic gases
Position
Vibration
Weight

History
The history of instrumentation can be divided into several
phases.

Pre-industrial
Elements of industrial instrumentation have long
histories. Scales for comparing weights and simple
pointers to indicate position are ancient technologies.
Some of the earliest measurements were of time. One of
the oldest water clocks was found in the tomb of the
ancient Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep I, buried around
1500 BCE.[1] Improvements were incorporated in the
clocks. By 270 BCE they had the rudiments of an automatic
control system device.[2]

In 1663 Christopher Wren presented the Royal Society

with a design for a "weather clock". A drawing shows
A local instrumentation panel on a
meteorological sensors moving pens over paper driven by steam turbine
clockwork. Such devices did not become standard in
meteorology for two centuries.[3] The concept has
remained virtually unchanged as evidenced by pneumatic chart recorders, where a
pressurized bellows displaces a pen. Integrating sensors, displays, recorders, and controls
was uncommon until the industrial revolution, limited by both need and practicality.

Early industrial
Early systems used direct process connections to local
control panels for control and indication, which from the
early 1930s saw the introduction of pneumatic
transmitters and automatic 3-term (PID) controllers.

The ranges of pneumatic transmitters were defined by the

need to control valves and actuators in the field. Typically,
a signal ranged from 3 to 15 psi (20 to 100kPa or 0.2 to
1.0 kg/cm2) as a standard, was standardized with 6 to 30 The evolution of analogue control
psi occasionally being used for larger valves. Transistor loop signalling from the pneumatic
electronics enabled wiring to replace pipes, initially with a era to the electronic era
range of 20 to 100mA at up to 90V for loop powered
devices, reducing to 4 to 20mA at 12 to 24V in more
modern systems. A transmitter is a device that produces an output signal, often in the form
of a 4–20 mA electrical current signal, although many other options using voltage,
frequency, pressure, or ethernet are possible. The transistor was commercialized by the
mid-1950s.[4]

Instruments attached to a control system provided signals used to operate solenoids, valves,
regulators, circuit breakers, relays and other devices. Such devices could control a desired
output variable, and provide either remote monitoring or automated control capabilities.
Each instrument company introduced their own standard instrumentation signal, causing
confusion until the 4–20 mA range was used as the standard electronic instrument signal
for transmitters and valves. This signal was eventually standardized as ANSI/ISA S50,
"Compatibility of Analog Signals for Electronic Industrial Process Instruments", in the
1970s. The transformation of instrumentation from mechanical pneumatic transmitters,
controllers, and valves to electronic instruments reduced maintenance costs as electronic
instruments were more dependable than mechanical instruments. This also increased
efficiency and production due to their increase in accuracy. Pneumatics enjoyed some
advantages, being favored in corrosive and explosive atmospheres.[5]

Automatic process control

In the early years of process control, process indicators
and control elements such as valves were monitored by an
operator, that walked around the unit adjusting the valves
to obtain the desired temperatures, pressures, and flows.
As technology evolved pneumatic controllers were
invented and mounted in the field that monitored the
process and controlled the valves. This reduced the
amount of time process operators needed to monitor the
process. Latter years, the actual controllers were moved to Example of a single industrial
a central room and signals were sent into the control room control loop, showing continuously
to monitor the process and outputs signals were sent to the modulated control of process flow
final control element such as a valve to adjust the process
as needed. These controllers and indicators were mounted
on a wall called a control board. The operators stood in front of this board walking back
and forth monitoring the process indicators. This again reduced the number and amount of
time process operators were needed to walk around the units. The most standard
pneumatic signal level used during these years was 3–15 psig.[6]

Large integrated computer-based systems

Process control of large industrial plants has evolved through many stages. Initially, control
would be from panels local to the process plant. However, this required a large manpower
resource to attend to these dispersed panels, and there was no overall view of the process.
The next logical development was the transmission of all plant measurements to a
permanently staffed central control room. Effectively this was the centralization of all the
localized panels, with the advantages of lower manning levels and easy overview of the
process. Often the controllers were behind the control room panels, and all automatic and
manual control outputs were transmitted back to plant.

However, whilst providing a central control focus, this arrangement was inflexible as each
control loop had its own controller hardware, and continual operator movement within the
control room was required to view different parts of the process. With coming of electronic
processors and graphic displays it became possible to replace these discrete controllers
with computer-based algorithms, hosted on a network of input/output racks with their own
control processors. These could be distributed around plant, and communicate with the
graphic display in the control room or rooms. The distributed control concept was born.
The introduction of DCSs and SCADA allowed easy
interconnection and re-configuration of plant controls
such as cascaded loops and interlocks, and easy
interfacing with other production computer systems. It
enabled sophisticated alarm handling, introduced
automatic event logging, removed the need for physical
records such as chart recorders, allowed the control racks
to be networked and thereby located locally to plant to
reduce cabling runs, and provided high level overviews of
plant status and production levels.

Pneumatic "three term" pneumatic

Application PID controller, widely used before
electronics became reliable and
In some cases, the sensor is a very minor element of the cheaper and safe to use in
mechanism. Digital cameras and wristwatches might hazardous areas (Siemens Telepneu
Example)
technically meet the loose definition of instrumentation
because they record and/or display sensed information.
Under most circumstances neither would be called
instrumentation, but when used to measure the elapsed
time of a race and to document the winner at the finish
line, both would be called instrumentation.

Household
A very simple example of an instrumentation system is a
mechanical thermostat, used to control a household
A pre-DCS/SCADA era central
furnace and thus to control room temperature. A typical control room. Whilst the controls are
unit senses temperature with a bi-metallic strip. It displays centralised in one place, they are
temperature by a needle on the free end of the strip. It still discrete and not integrated into
activates the furnace by a mercury switch. As the switch is one system.
rotated by the strip, the mercury makes physical (and thus
electrical) contact between electrodes.

Another example of an instrumentation system is a home

security system. Such a system consists of sensors (motion
detection, switches to detect door openings), simple
algorithms to detect intrusion, local control (arm/disarm)
and remote monitoring of the system so that the police can
A DCS control room where plant
be summoned. Communication is an inherent part of the
information and controls are
design.
displayed on computer graphics
screens. The operators are seated
Kitchen appliances use sensors for control.
and can view and control any part of
the process from their screens,
A refrigerator maintains a constant temperature by whilst retaining a plant overview.
actuating the cooling system when the temperature
becomes too high.
An automatic ice machine makes ice until a limit switch is thrown.
Pop-up bread toasters allow the time to be set.
 Non-electronic gas ovens will regulate the temperature with a thermostat controlling the flow
of gas to the gas burner. These may feature a sensor bulb sited within the main chamber of the
oven. In addition, there may be a safety cut-off flame supervision device: after ignition, the
burner's control knob must be held for a short time in order for a sensor to become hot, and
permit the flow of gas to the burner. If the safety sensor becomes cold, this may indicate the
flame on the burner has become extinguished, and to prevent a continuous leak of gas the flow
is stopped.
Electric ovens use a temperature sensor and will turn on heating elements when the
temperature is too low. More advanced ovens will actuate fans in response to temperature
sensors, to distribute heat or to cool.
A common toilet refills the water tank until a float closes the valve. The float is acting as a
water level sensor.

Automotive
Modern automobiles have complex instrumentation. In addition to displays of engine
rotational speed and vehicle linear speed, there are also displays of battery voltage and
current, fluid levels, fluid temperatures, distance traveled, and feedback of various controls
(turn signals, parking brake, headlights, transmission position). Cautions may be displayed
for special problems (fuel low, check engine, tire pressure low, door ajar, seat belt
unfastened). Problems are recorded so they can be reported to diagnostic equipment.
Navigation systems can provide voice commands to reach a destination. Automotive
instrumentation must be cheap and reliable over long periods in harsh environments.
There may be independent airbag systems that contain sensors, logic and actuators. Anti-
skid braking systems use sensors to control the brakes, while cruise control affects throttle
position. A wide variety of services can be provided via communication links on the OnStar
system. Autonomous cars (with exotic instrumentation) have been shown.

Aircraft
Early aircraft had a few sensors.[7] "Steam gauges" converted air pressures into needle
deflections that could be interpreted as altitude and airspeed. A magnetic compass
provided a sense of direction. The displays to the pilot were as critical as the
measurements.

A modern aircraft has a far more sophisticated suite of sensors and displays, which are
embedded into avionics systems. The aircraft may contain inertial navigation systems,
global positioning systems, weather radar, autopilots, and aircraft stabilization systems.
Redundant sensors are used for reliability. A subset of the information may be transferred
to a crash recorder to aid mishap investigations. Modern pilot displays now include
computer displays including head-up displays.

Air traffic control radar is a distributed instrumentation system. The ground part sends an
electromagnetic pulse and receives an echo (at least). Aircraft carry transponders that
transmit codes on reception of the pulse. The system displays an aircraft map location, an
identifier and optionally altitude. The map location is based on sensed antenna direction
and sensed time delay. The other information is embedded in the transponder
transmission.

Laboratory instrumentation
Among the possible uses of the term is a collection of laboratory test equipment controlled
by a computer through an IEEE-488 bus (also known as GPIB for General Purpose
Instrument Bus or HPIB for Hewlitt Packard Instrument Bus). Laboratory equipment is
available to measure many electrical and chemical quantities. Such a collection of
equipment might be used to automate the testing of drinking water for pollutants.

Instrumentation engineering
Instrumentation engineering is the engineering
specialization focused on the principle and operation of
measuring instruments that are used in design and
configuration of automated systems in areas such as
electrical and pneumatic domains, and the control of
quantities being measured. They typically work for
industries with automated processes, such as chemical or
manufacturing plants, with the goal of improving system
productivity, reliability, safety, optimization and stability. The instrumentation part of a piping
To control the parameters in a process or in a particular and instrumentation diagram will be
developed by an instrumentation
system, devices such as microprocessors, microcontrollers
engineer.
or PLCs are used, but their ultimate aim is to control the
parameters of a system.

Instrumentation engineering is loosely defined because the required tasks are very domain
dependent. An expert in the biomedical instrumentation of laboratory rats has very
different concerns than the expert in rocket instrumentation. Common concerns of both
are the selection of appropriate sensors based on size, weight, cost, reliability, accuracy,
longevity, environmental robustness, and frequency response. Some sensors are literally
fired in artillery shells. Others sense thermonuclear explosions until destroyed. Invariably
sensor data must be recorded, transmitted or displayed. Recording rates and capacities
vary enormously. Transmission can be trivial or can be clandestine, encrypted and low
power in the presence of jamming. Displays can be trivially simple or can require
consultation with human factors experts. Control system design varies from trivial to a
separate specialty.

Instrumentation engineers are responsible for integrating the sensors with the recorders,
transmitters, displays or control systems, and producing the Piping and instrumentation
diagram for the process. They may design or specify installation, wiring and signal
conditioning. They may be responsible for commissioning, calibration, testing and
maintenance of the system.

In a research environment it is common for subject matter experts to have substantial

instrumentation system expertise. An astronomer knows the structure of the universe and
a great deal about telescopes – optics, pointing and cameras (or other sensing elements).
That often includes the hard-won knowledge of the operational procedures that provide the
best results. For example, an astronomer is often knowledgeable of techniques to minimize
temperature gradients that cause air turbulence within the telescope.

Typical industrial transmitter signal types

Pneumatic loop (20-100KPa/3-15PSI) – Pneumatic

Current loop (4-20mA) – Electrical
HART – Data signalling, often overlaid on a current loop
Foundation Fieldbus – Data signalling
Profibus – Data signalling

Impact of modern development

Ralph Müller (1940) stated, "That the history of physical science is largely the history of
instruments and their intelligent use is well known. The broad generalizations and theories
which have arisen from time to time have stood or fallen on the basis of accurate
measurement, and in several instances new instruments have had to be devised for the
purpose. There is little evidence to show that the mind of modern man is superior to that of
the ancients. His tools are incomparably better."[8][9]: 290

Davis Baird has argued that the major change associated with Floris Cohen's identification
of a "fourth big scientific revolution" after World War II is the development of scientific
instrumentation, not only in chemistry but across the sciences.[9][10] In chemistry, the
introduction of new instrumentation in the 1940s was "nothing less than a scientific and
technological revolution"[11]: 28–29 in which classical wet-and-dry methods of structural
organic chemistry were discarded, and new areas of research opened up.[11]: 38

As early as 1954, W. A. Wildhack discussed both the productive and destructive potential
inherent in process control.[12] The ability to make precise, verifiable and reproducible
measurements of the natural world, at levels that were not previously observable, using
scientific instrumentation, has "provided a different texture of the world".[13] This
instrumentation revolution fundamentally changes human abilities to monitor and
respond, as is illustrated in the examples of DDT monitoring and the use of UV
spectrophotometry and gas chromatography to monitor water pollutants.[10][13]

See also
Industrial control system
Instrumentation and control engineering
Instrumentation in petrochemical industries
Institute of Measurement and Control
International Society of Automation
List of sensors
Measurement
Medical instrumentation
Metrology
 Piping and instrumentation diagram – a diagram in the process industry which shows the
piping of the process flow together with the installed equipment and instrumentation.
Programmable logic controller
Timeline of temperature and pressure measurement technology

References
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1 March 2012.
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w.building-automation-consultants.com/building-automation-history.html). Archived from the
original (http://www.building-automation-consultants.com/building-automation-history.html)
on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
3. Multhauf, Robert P. (1961), The Introduction of Self-Registering Meteorological Instruments,
Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 95–116 United States National Museum, Bulletin
228. Contributions from The Museum of History and Technology: Paper 23. Available from
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4. Lynn, L.H. (1998). "The commercialization of the transistor radio in Japan: The functioning of
an innovation community". IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. 45 (3): 220–229.
doi:10.1109/17.704244 (https://doi.org/10.1109%2F17.704244).
5. Anderson, Norman A. (1998). Instrumentation for Process Measurement and Control (3 ed.).
CRC Press. pp. 254–255. ISBN 978-0-8493-9871-1.
6. Anderson, Norman A. (1998). Instrumentation for Process Measurement and Control (3 ed.).
CRC Press. pp. 8–10. ISBN 978-0-8493-9871-1.
7. Aircraft Instrumentation – Leroy R. Grumman Cadet Squadron (http://www.cap-ny153.org/aircr
aftinstrumentation.htm)
8. Katz, Eric; Light, Andrew; Thompson, William (2002). Controlling technology : contemporary
issues (https://books.google.com/books?id=nny8OoQCZCoC&pg=PA88) (2nd ed.). Amherst,
NY: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1573929837. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
9. Baird, D. (1993). "Analytical chemistry and the 'big' scientific instrumentation revolution". Annals
of Science. 50 (3): 267–290. doi:10.1080/00033799300200221 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00
033799300200221). "Download the pdf to read the full article."
10. Baird, D. (2002). "Analytical chemistry and the 'big' scientific instrumentation revolution" (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=AAf8sk_v2SEC&pg=PA52). In Morris, Peter J. T. (ed.). From
classical to modern chemistry : the instrumental revolution; from a conference on the history of
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Instrumentation in the Twentieth Century", London, in August 2000. Cambridge: Royal Society of
Chemistry in assoc. with the Science Museum. pp. 29–56. ISBN 9780854044795.
11. Reinhardt, Carsten, ed. (2001). Chemical sciences in twentieth century (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=gIOK5EUm5ysC&pg=PA28) (1st ed.). Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. ISBN 978-
3527302710.
12. Wildhack, W. A. (22 October 1954). "Instrumentation—Revolution in Industry, Science, and
Warfare". Science. 120 (3121): 15A. Bibcode:1954Sci...120A..15W (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.e
du/abs/1954Sci...120A..15W). doi:10.1126/science.120.3121.15A (https://doi.org/10.1126%2F
science.120.3121.15A). PMID 17816144 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17816144).
13. Hentschel, Klaus (2003). "The Instrumental Revolution in Chemistry (Review Essay)".
Foundations of Chemistry. 5 (2): 179–183. doi:10.1023/A:1023691917565 (https://doi.org/10.1
023%2FA%3A1023691917565). S2CID 102255170 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:1
02255170).
External links

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