BME209S

Unit Description and General Aims

The objective in presenting this unit is to provide students with a comprehensive overview of the principles of industrial automation, measurement, and control, and to enable them to effectively apply these concepts to automation projects.

The subject matter covered in this unit will include: the fundamentals of industrial automation and control systems; the function and application of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and related devices; Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA), Distributed Control System (DCS), and Industrial Data Communications Systems; process measurement and instrumentation concepts; the basics of loop tuning; and, control valve sizing and selection.

The topics are structured such that students will gain practical knowledge of each key concept/system individually, and then learn how these concepts/systems can be merged into an efficient control system. Students will also complete a project whereby they will be required to select and size a control valve for a given application, using standard sizing principles and equations.

The elements of an industrial control system form part of an interconnected web using Ethernet, field buses, and wireless technology. At the conclusion of this unit, students will have been imparted with the requisite knowledge to effectively navigate, harness, and synthesize the many interconnected and interdependent industrial automation technologies into an effective control environment.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this Unit, students are expected to be able to:

1. Analyzes the fundamentals of industrial automation and control systems.
   Bloom's Level 4
2. Examines the function and application of PLCs and related devices.
   Bloom's Level 4
3. Analyzes the attributes of SCADA, DCS, and Industrial Data Communications Systems.
   Bloom's Level 4
4. Examines the process measurement and instrumentation concepts.
   Bloom's Level 4
5. Re-assemble the information about the basics of loop tuning.
   Bloom's Level 6
6. Assume control valve sizing and selection.
   Bloom's Level 4

Student assessment

Prescribed and Recommended Readings

Required textbook

Fundamentals of Industrial Automation, IDC Technologies, Perth
Doebelin, EO 2003, Measurement Systems: Application and Design, 5th edn, McGraw Hill, ISBN-13: 978-0072922011

Reference

Beckwith, TG, Marangoni, RD & Lienhard, JH 2008, Mechanical Measurements,6th edn, Pearson Education, ISBN-13: 978-0136093763

Raghavendra, NV & Krishnamurthy, L 2013, Engineering Metrology and Measurements, 1st edn, Oxford University Press, ISBN-13: 978-0198085492

Journal, website

Peer-reviewed journals and websites (advised during lectures)

Notes and Reference Texts

Knovel library: http://app.knovel.com
IDC Technologies
Other material advised during the lectures

Unit Content

Topic 1

Introduction to Industrial Automation

1. History of industrial automation
2. Industrial automation basics
3. Basic measurement and control concepts
4. Instrumentation and transducer considerations
5. P&ID symbols for instrumentation

Topic 2

Fundamentals of Control Systems

1. Basic concepts and control terminology
2. Modes of feedback control
3. Reverse or direct acting controllers
4. Open loop characterization of the process
5. Dead zone
6. The industrial process in practice

Topic 3

Introduction to PLCs

1. PLC basics
2. Components of the PLC system
3. PLC and process interaction
4. Programmable Automation Controllers (PACs)
5. Soft PLCs
6. Standard programming languages

Topic 4

SCADA and DCS

1. Fundamental principles of modern SCADA systems
2. SCADA hardware and software
3. Remote terminal units
4. Operator panels
5. DCSs

Topic 5

Industrial Data Communications

1. OSI model
2. Serial communications (RS-232/RS-485)
3. Industrial Ethernet and TCP/IP
4. Field buses (DeviceNet, Profibus, Foundation Fieldbus H1)
5. Industrial wireless
6. Industrial network security
7. OPC

Topics 6 and 7

Instrumentation

1. Introduction to process measurement
2. Pressure measurement
3. Level measurement
4. Temperature measurement
5. Flow measurement
6. Process considerations
7. System integration
8. Conversion between analogue values and SCADA displayed values
9. Effects of filtering
10. Aliasing and too low scan rates

Topics 8 and 9

Process Control and Business Systems

1. Basic definitions and terms used in process control
2. Process dynamics and time constants
3. PID control
4. Cascade control
5. Implementation of control
6. Fundamentals of loop tuning
7. Tuning rules
a. Ziegler Nichols open loop tuning
b. Ziegler Nichols closed loop tuning
c. Trial & error tuning
8. Tuning of valves
9. Simple tuning of more complex systems
10. Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
11. S88 batch language
12. System integration models and concepts
13. S95 standard

Topics 10 and 11

Control Valves

1. Control valve principles
2. Different types of control valves
3. Control valve characteristics
4. Selecting right type of control valve for given application
5. High pressure drop applications
6. Actuators
7. Positioners
8. Materials
9. Installation and maintenance
10. Control valve sizing:
a. Manually
b. With software

Topic 12

Unit Review

In the final week, students will have an opportunity to review the contents covered so far. Opportunity will be provided for a review of student work and to clarify any outstanding issues. Instructors/facilitators may choose to cover a specialized topic if applicable to that cohort.

Software/Hardware Used

Software

• Software: MATLAB

• Version: R2018b

• Instructions:  N/A

• Additional resources or files: N/A

Hardware

• N/A