Newbie to instrumentation and industrial automation

Question

Newbie to instrumentation and industrial automation

Hails89 (Electrical)

(OP)

7 Nov 15 04:49

Hey guys,

Firstly thanks for taking the time to read this if you have opened my thread!

I am a qualified electrician I am only 2 years out of my apprenticeship, I work and did my trade in Australia. I have been extremely lucky in landing a job with a big gas company in Australia and they are going to put me through my instrumentation training. I feel like a fish out of water this is a whole new sector for me and I have basically nil experience with a lot of the processes I am working on and with, I was wondering if anyone has some tips, books or good tutorials that could be recommended to me to start me off. I am basically a complete beginner with this stuff and am struggling to determine which parts I need to start focusing on and learning. I get caught up reading on DCS systems then chop to PID tuning and I am just confusing myself even more.

I am very passionate about my job and want to prove to the guys at work I can do this, probably didn't mention I am a girl so a lot of the guys on site already have low expectations for me! I am not the smartest of people but I am a hard worker and very determine to learn what I can. Any guidance or assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for taking the time to read this look forward to hearing from someone.

Hayley

itsmoked (Electrical) · Answer 1 · 2015-11-07 09:03:54

Well! Congrates on the new job. It can be a very interesting one and you seem to have the correct motivation.

Some schools teach "instrumentation" so you might find an on-line version you can tag onto which would give you a "certificate" that would probably serve you very well.

Example:
http://www.btc.edu/DegreesClasses/Programs/ProgramDetails.aspx?ID=85&tab=tab2
I thought they had an online track but I'm not seeing it at the moment.
Here's a link to one of their starting text books they had online.
It's 50MB but likely worth it to you.
www.ibiblio.org/kuphaldt/socratic/sinst/book/liii_1v24.pdf

Here's a link for a school. And if you scroll to the bottom they actually talk about accreditation in Oz.
http://www.eit.edu.au/industrial-automation-instrumentation-process-control

Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com

ScottyUK (Electrical) · Answer 2 · 2015-11-07 11:58:58

You'll need to get to grips with hazardous area equipment in an oil & gas plant. There are a few good references available, one of the better ones is by MTL especially if it is a modern plant with a lot of intrinsically safe equipment. http://www.mtl-inst.com/# and have look in the Resources tab.

IRstuff (Aerospace) · Answer 3 · 2015-11-08 18:54:50

There lots of free resources on the web as well. Consider looking at MIT's OpenCourseWare:

TTFN
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georgeverghese (Chemical) · Answer 4 · 2015-11-08 23:04:31

Learning can be slow and painful if you dont have a good mentor / supervisor - there's only so much books and instruction material can do for you in what may appear to be a chaotic workplace. This chaos only makes sense to the folks who are in management positions in an operating plant.

Hails89 (Electrical) · Answer 5 · 2015-11-09 09:53:31

Thanks for all the great sites and advice I really appreciate it!

Touché georgeverghese you nailed it there, that is exactly how I feel! I'll get there my biggest problem is I want to know it all now that I get so flustered and confused that I don't achieve anything!

ScottyUK (Electrical) · Answer 6 · 2015-11-09 19:19:20

Start with the instruments and actuators.

If you understand them and can calibrate them, maintain them, and so on then you have a much better chance with the control aspects of the business. You can't control anything unless you can measure it and can modulate it, so start with the measuring and modulating elements: you'll pick up stuff like square root extraction and the different types of valve trims as you go, and you almost certainly end up working with a PLC or DCS as part of loop checks which is a reasonably gentle way into those areas.

itsmoked (Electrical) · Answer 7 · 2015-11-09 21:25:00

Scotty makes an EXCELLENT case. Well put my good man!

Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com

georgeverghese (Chemical) · Answer 8 · 2015-11-10 00:18:25

Sounds like management in your company havent come round to which department / division to put you in yet. Once that happens, you may find some order and predictability to your work. Good luck.

roydm (Industrial) · Answer 9 · 2015-11-11 01:03:41

It's basically a second apprenticeship you are taking on, what worked for you as an electrical apprentice will also work for you as an Instrument Tech.
I went much the same route 40 years ago, I haven't stopped learning yet.

As Scotty says, learn how the field instruments work. I have seen guys who think they can do everything from the computer, but then are stuck by a simple measurement problem.

Good Luck

PersonalProfile (Mechanical) · Answer 10 · 2015-11-13 04:20:32

The following company provides both: training, and resources; that may be of use.

http://www.idc-online.com/

Regards,
Lyle

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Newbie to instrumentation and industrial automation