The Instrumentation and Process Control Handbook: A Practical Guide to Hazardous Area Classification, Signal Transmission, with Hands-On Exercises - Softcover

Donald, Dewey L.

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798166045690

Publisher: Independently published, 2026

Synopsis

The Instrumentation and Process Control Handbook

Most instrumentation technicians learn by watching someone else do the job. They pick up habits, copy calibration steps, and hope the knowledge holds when a loop starts cycling at 3 AM and the engineer is unreachable. This book was written for the technician — and the engineer — who wants more than that. Who wants to understand what is actually happening inside the transmitter, across the 4–20 mA loop, inside the PID controller, and through every signal path on the P&ID, so that no instrument, no loop, and no process upset is ever a mystery.

This is the book that earns a permanent place in your field bag.

INSIDE, YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO:

• Understand the complete measurement chain — from sensing element through transmitter, signal cable, controller, and final control element — and diagnose faults at every point in it
• Read and interpret P&IDs using ISA 5.1 symbology and instrument tag codes, the way they are used on real process plants
• Select, calibrate, and troubleshoot temperature instruments — RTDs, thermocouples, thermistors, and infrared sensors — across the full industrial temperature range
• Measure pressure correctly using gauge, absolute, differential, and vacuum transmitters, and avoid the most costly installation and calibration mistakes
• Apply every major level measurement technology — DP transmitters, guided wave radar, FMCW 80 GHz radar, ultrasonic, capacitance, and float switches — to the right application
• Select and commission the right flowmeter for any service — orifice plate, magnetic, Coriolis, vortex, ultrasonic, turbine, and thermal mass — and understand why the wrong choice always costs more in the end
• Understand 4–20 mA live zero, HART protocol, Foundation Fieldbus, WirelessHART, and IIoT — and troubleshoot every signal technology with a multimeter and a HART communicator
• Tune PID control loops systematically using Ziegler-Nichols, Lambda tuning, and open-loop step test methods — and diagnose whether a poorly performing loop is a tuning problem, a valve problem, or a process problem

BUILT FOR LEARNING AND REAL FIELD USE

Every chapter opens with a focused introduction that sets the context before any technical content appears. Every section is written in a direct, guidebook-based style — not dry textbook theory, but practical instruction designed to be followed in the field. Diagnostic exercises, scenario-based problems, and Interactive Prompts & Exercises appear at the end of every chapter, so you are never just reading — you are always applying.

BONUS: THE FIELD REFERENCE MASTER PACK — INCLUDED FREE

• Bonus 1 — Complete Troubleshooting Playbook
• Bonus 2 — PID Tuning Cheat Sheet
• Bonus 3 — Instrument Selection Guide
• Bonus 4 — Glossary & ISA Tag Code Reference

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR

Written for instrumentation technicians, process control engineers, maintenance technicians, apprentices, automation engineers, and plant operators who want a structured, complete understanding of industrial measurement and control — from first principles through modern IIoT, cybersecurity, and Safety Instrumented Systems. Whether you are preparing for an ISA CCST certification exam, stepping into a process plant for the first time, or working to close the knowledge gaps you have carried for years, this handbook is built for you.

Read the loop. Take the measurement. Find the fault. Tune the controller. Commission the valve. Verify the safety function. Understand the system.

Build the knowledge that keeps process plants running — and build the career that comes with it. Scroll up and click the BUY BUTTON now to get your copy today!

Edition details

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798166045690
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 189