Oh you’re an Instrument Engineer, The chosen Few (hahaha)

No one plans to become an instrument engineer.The prospective instrument engineer doesn’t even know the profession exists until the job offer comes. Public understanding to the profession is nonexistent.

Do you got What it takes to become an instrument engineer? Do you like to read hundreds pages of catalogs? Do you like to keep track with thousands of instrumentation that changes yearly? Are you capable of forgetting all the math you learned in college?

Being an Instrument engineer is like being paid to go shopping to your nearest electronics or computer store with someone else money.


What is unfortune is that the experienced engineers typically don’t like to speak in public or write. The result is a shortage of good mentors and instructors.



Instrument engineer learn by making mistakes. To be a really good instrument engineer you should leave a trail of disasters in your past (I did, and it was horrible one). Only by facing the day to day repair problems can you appreciate the impact of instrument selection. Many of the operational problems don’t surface until after start-up. If your field experience ends after commissioning, your view point is distorded. You may be happy with your ignorance, but the plant engineer who has to live with your design will not be. Therefore, it is not wise to go to work for engineering firm until you have been exposed to a lot of mistakes.


How to deal with process engineer


A process engineer is smarter than average instrument engineer. They were the kind of people who actually did their homework on time and studied daily in college. They love calculations and still use many of the equations they learned in college on their job. They are the threat. There are very few new products or processes to keep them busy. Most process engineer now have a good programming background. This background, coupled with their practical knowledge of process equations, means that these engineers can make the configuration work of Distributed control system. It is the duty of every instrument engineer to stop this before gets out of hand.


Whenever you are talking to them about cavitation and flashing use the term “adiabatic expansion”. Explain inaccurate flow measurement with “ laminar flow”, “insufficient Reynolds number”, or “Bernaouli principle”. Explain improperly sized control valves with the “system curve”, “sonic velocity”, or “choked flow” at “vena contracta”.


Process engineers are uneasy about electrical, Keep the process engineer out by using as many electrical terms as possible. Even simple “4-20 mA” and 1-5 Volts DC” are effective. Discuss grounding problem with process engineer. Use high tech instrumentation such as electromagnetic flowmeter instead the simpler ones such as the orifice meter.



Process engineer have a nasty habit of blaming instruments whenever anything goes wrong Operationally. More often the cause lies in faulty equipment operation, but it is often difficult to prove.It is the best that you learn how the equipment is supposed to operate so that you cant avoid ridiculous accusations. The only sure way to establish your instruments is to make sure there are three ways of measuring the value of critical operating parameter so you can defend their integrity.

How to deal with vendor.


Vendors are basically social animals, they were the type of students who stayed out and partied all night before the exams. They may not have got the highest grades, but grade points don’t mean much once you get the job. They wont worry of whether the instrument will actually work, they rarely get out into the field, and any problem from user is usually discounted as being caused by poor installation or maintenance practices. Vendors get very few formal complaints because the user is basically introvert and prefer to correct the problem privately than make a public case.

The majority of catalogs are just a collection of picture and buzz word. They don’t give enough information to determine whether the instrument will fit your application. There are also a 32 digit model number to describe the instrument.

So it is wise to not believe everything vendor says. Use innovative specification so you can get the manufacturer of the best, not the cheapest instrument for your job.

Reference:


“How to become an instrument engineer”, ISA