EST 285 - Advanced Instrumentation and PLCs

Credits: 3
LEC hours per week: 2
LAB hours per week: 2
Electrical safety and advanced control principles are covered in this course with a strong emphasis on instrumentation, input/output calibration, wiring, and PID loop control. Students control level and flow in a process by using instruments (i.e. sensors) – used in the processing and manufacturing industries - to gain feedback to inform settings and outputs on a PID controller and downstream instruments. This course also builds on the topics covered in EST 250 Programmable Logic Controllers, i.e. troubleshooting, event sequencing, application development, program control instructions, and math and data move instructions. This course will culminate in the application of skills covered in EST 106 and EST 250 to demonstrate PLC control of our Process Level and Flow training equipment.
Prerequisite(s): Grade of C or higher in EST 106 and EST 250 or instructor permission.
Course Outcomes:

Identify industry standard control tags.
Define instrumentation terms.
Interpret a Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID)
Operate processes for both flow and liquid level control.
Troubleshoot and calibrate instruments in a process control loop using relevant equations and a digital multi-meter (DMM).
Program a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller manually and automatically in order to control a process loop.
Assemble and troubleshoot complex control scenarios.
Set up and troubleshoot instrumentation, and manage process control loops, through a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).

Course Topics:

Instrumentation
Instrument tags
Interpretation of P & I diagrams
On/off relay
Manual/automatic control
PID control
Temperature sensors
Liquid level measurement
Pressure transducer level sensors
Flow measurement
Paddlewheel flow sensors
I/P converters
Pneumatic proportional valves
Process meters
Component calibration
System performance and troubleshooting
Complex control scenarios
PLCs