NORTHERN TECHNICAL COLLEGE MANAGEMENT BOARD

LECTURER: Kakonkanya M COURSE: Electrical Diploma 1

College: NORTEC Class: D8/1 Date: Feb 2022

Subject: Instrumentation Topic: functions of instruments and measurement system

Objective(s) At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

1. Define instrumentation and control designs correctly.

2. State the inputs required in the preparation of the instrument design document correctly.
3. Explain instrument documentation correctly.

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Instrumentation and Control Design
The purpose of Instrumentation and Control (I&C) Design document is to cover the project-specific technical requirements
which are to be followed throw-out the Feed or Detailed Engineering Phase while in preparation of engineering deliverables. The
Design Basis is considered as a mother document for all the engineering activities or deliverables to be carried out in a particular
project.

The inputs required in the preparation of the instrument design document.

The following are the required inputs for the preparation of the document Instrumentation & Control Design Basis.

 Client’s Specification
 Electrical Hazardous Area Layout
 Basic Engineering Design Data

Structure of Design Basis of Instrumentation & Control

The following items listed below should be covered in the Instrumentation & Control Design Basis.

1. List of Codes, Standards, and Regulatory Requirements

2. Units of Measurements

3. Control System

4. Package Control System

5. Power Supply & Instrument Air Supply

6. Hazardous Area Classification Requirements

7. Basic Requirements Related to Field Instruments and Cables

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 8. Basic Requirements Related to Installation & Related Items

9. Spares

Instrumentation documentation
Instrumentation documentation consists of drawings, diagrams and schedules. The documentation is used by various people for
different purposes. Of all the disciplines in a project, instrumentation is the most interlinked and therefore the most difficult to
control. The best way to understand the purpose and function of each document is to look at the complete project flow from
design through to commissioning.

 Design criteria, standards, specifications, vendor lists

 Construction

 Quantity surveying, disputes, installation contractor, price per meter, per installation

 Operations

 Maintenance commissioning

Instrument list
This is a list of all the instruments on the plant, in the ‘List’ format. All the instruments of the same type (tag) are listed together;
for example, all the pressure transmitters ‘PT’ are grouped together.

1. Instrument index lists– Associated documentation such as loop drawing number, datasheets, installation details.
2. Loop List -The same information as the instrument list but ordered by loop number instead of tag number. This sort of order
will group all elements of the same loop number together.
3. Function- Gives a list of all the instrumentation on the plant and may include ‘virtual’ instruments such as controllers in PLC.
4. Tag No- The instrument tag number as defined by the specification.
5. Description -Description of the instrument as denoted by the tag number.
6. Service Description -A description of the process related parameter.

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 7. Functional Description –The role of the device.
8. Manufacturer- Details of the manufacturer of the device.
9. Model- Details of the model type and number.

Instrument location plans

The instrument location drawing is used to indicate an approximate location of the instruments and junction boxes. This drawing is
then used to determine the cable lengths from the instrument to the junction box or control room. This drawing is also used to
give the installation contractor an idea as to where the instrument should be installed.

Cable racking layout

This is a drawing that shows the physical layout and sizes of the cable rack as it moves through the plant

Cable routing layout

The routing layout used a single line to indicate the rack direction as well as routing and sizes and was known as a ‘Racking &
Routing layout’

Block diagrams – signal, cable and power block diagrams

Cable block diagrams can be divided into two categories: Power and Signal block diagrams. The block diagram is used to give an
overall graphical representation of the cabling philosophy for the plant.

Field connections / Wiring diagrams

Function: To instruct the wireman on how to wire the field cables at the junction box.
Used by: The installation contractor. When the cable is installed on the cable rack, it is left lying loose at both the instrument and
junction box ends. The installation contractor stands at the junction box and strips each cable and wires it into the box according
to the drawing.
Power distribution diagram
Function: There are various methods of supplying power to field instruments; the various formats of the power distribution
diagrams show these different wiring systems.
Used by: Various people depending on the wiring philosophy, such as the panel wireman, field wiring contractor.

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Earthing diagram
Function: Used to indicate how the earthing should be done. Although this is often undertaken by the electrical discipline, there
are occasions when the instrument designer may or must generate his own scheme – Eg for earthing of zener barriers in a
hazardous area environment.
Used by: Earthing contractor for the installation of the earthing. This drawing should also be kept for future modifications and
reference.
Loop diagrams
Function: A diagram that shows comprehensively details the wiring of the loop, showing every connection from field to
instrument or I/O point of a DCS/PLC.

Used by: Maintenance staff during the operation of the plant and by commissioning staff at start up.

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Measurement system

Instrumentation Systems
The purpose of an instrumentation system used for making measurements is to give the user a numerical value corresponding to
the variable being measured. Thus a thermometer may be used to give a numerical value for the temperature of a liquid. We must,
however, recognise that, for a variety of reasons, this numerical value may not actually be the true value of the variable. Thus, in
the case of the thermometer, there may be errors due to the limited accuracy in the scale calibration, or reading errors due to the
reading falling between two scale markings, or perhaps errors due to the insertion of a cold thermometer into a hot liquid, lowering
the temperature of the liquid and so altering the temperature being measured. We thus consider a measurement system to have
an input of the true value of the variable being measured and an output of the measured value of that variable the figures below
shows some examples of instrument measuring systems.

An instrumentation system for making measurements has an input of the true value of the variable being measured and an output
of the measured value. This output might be then used in a control system to control the variable to some set value.

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The Constituent Elements of an Instrumentation System

An instrumentation system for making measurements consists of several elements which are used to carry out particular functions.
These functional elements are:
1. Sensor
This is the element of the system which is effectively in contact with the process for which a variable is being measured and
gives an output which depends in some way on the value of the variable and which can be used by the rest of the
measurement system to give a value to it. For example, a thermocouple is a sensor which has an input of temperature and
an output of a small e.m.f which in the rest of the measurement system might be amplified to give a reading on a meter.
Another example of a sensor is a resistance thermometer element which has an input of temperature and an output of a
resistance change.

2. Signal processor
This element takes the output from the sensor and converts it into a form which is suitable for display or onward
transmission in some control system. In the case of the thermocouple this may be an amplifier to make the e.m.f. big
enough to register on a meter (Figure 1.8B). There often may be more than an item, perhaps an element which puts the
output from the sensor into a suitable condition for further processing and then an element which processes the signal so
that it can be displayed. The term signal conditioner is used for an element which converts the output of a sensor into a
suitable form for further processing. Thus in the case of the resistance thermometer there might be a signal conditioner,
such as a Wheatstone bridge, which transforms the resistance change into a voltage change, then an amplifier to make the
voltage big enough for display (Figure 1.8B) or for use in a system used to control the temperature.

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 3. Data presentation
This presents the measured value in a form which enables an observer to recognise it. This may be via a display, e.g. a
pointer moving across the scale of a meter or perhaps information on a visual display unit (VDU). Alternatively, or
additionally, the signal may be recorded, e.g. in a computer memory, or transmitted to some other system such as a control
system.

The figure below shows how these basic functional elements form a measurement system.

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The term transducer is often used in relation to measurement systems.
Transducers are defined as an element that converts a change in some physical variable into a related change in some other
physical variable. It is generally used for an element that converts a change in some physical variable into an electrical signal
change. Thus sensors can be transducers. However, a measurement system may use transducers, in addition to the sensor, in
other parts of the system to convert signals in one form to another form.

Example
With a resistance thermometer, element A takes the temperature signal and transforms it into resistance signal, element B
transforms the resistance signal into a current signal, element C transforms the current signal into a display of a movement of a
pointer across a scale.
Which of these elements is (a) the sensor, (b) the signal processor, (c) the data presentation?
The sensor is element A,
The signal processor element B,
the data presentation element is C.
The system can be represented by Figure below

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