THE METHOD TO THE MADNESS IS REVEALED

Fortunately for PTOA Readers and Students, the human brain can fit in all the knowledge about the PV Temperature that has been acquired.

I ...
I can't get these memories out of my mind
And some kind of madness
has started to evolve.

("Madness," by Muse, 2012)

THE PV TEMPERATURE FOCUS STUDY AREA DOWNLOAD FROM YOUR MENTOR TO YOU IS COMPLETED!

Aha!

PTOA Readers and Students might have felt a bit overwhelmed sometimes but there was always a method to the madness of learning everything about the Process Variable Temperature.

There were four separate PTOA Process Variable Temperature Focus Studies that were part of the PTOA Process Variable Focus Study AREA.

Be proud of yourself for slogging through this first major PTOA Focus Study Area.

What follows is an inventory of the several dozen cohesive PV Temperature competencies every PTOA Reader and Student has acquire through this point in their PTOA self-study!

PV TEMPERATURE FOCUS STUDY #1
INTRODUCTION TO THE PROCESS VARIABLE TEMPERATURE

Now you know how hot hot is!

The introduction to the PV Temperature was featured in PTOA Segments #1 through # 20 .

The PTOA Introduction to the Process Variable Focus Study featured:

The definition of the term "PV Temperature."
A list of good reasons for monitoring and controlling the PV Temperature in industrial processes; for example, to promote or remove the possibility of a phase change occurring.
The definition and use of the instructional terms "Process Stream Temperature" and "Process Fluid Temperature."
The history and progress of automated process industry control and the advantages of modern DCS systems with respect to monitoring, recording and controlling any process variable ... not just the PV Temperature.
Definition of "remote" versus "control room" instruments for any PV.
A study of the instrument components that would be found in any "basic feedback control loop" ... not just control loops for the PV Temperature.

Integrated technology topics that supported the above Introduction to the PV Temperature Focus Study included:

Delineating the duties between the Outside Process Operator and the Control Board Operator who work together to monitor and control process stream temperatures.
Introduction to the International Society of Automation (ISA) and application of ISA nomenclature and symbols.
Introduction to Process Industry Schematics and decoding hints that are used to interpret P&IDs and PFDs.
Introduction to the standard signal types found in the real world and their correlated ISA transmission symbols.
An introduction to modern DCS features and their associated terminology.
A summary of the industry jargon that appeared in the PTOA Introduction to the Process Variable Temperature Focus Study.

PV TEMPERATURE FOCUS STUDY #2:
TEMPERATURE-CHANGING EQUIPMENT

PTOA Readers & Students know all about fired heaters.

Temperature-Changing process industry Equipment was featured in PTOA Segments #21 to #56.

The PTOA Temperature-Changing Equipment Focus Study rapidly built upon what PTOA Readers and Students had learned in the PV Temperature Focus Study #1.

The PTOA Temperature-Changing Equipment Focus Study featured:

Reactors for endothermic reactions.

Temperature-Increasing Process Industry Equipment (Fired Heaters, Exothermic Chemical Reactions, Boilers, Reboilers, Heat Tracing).
Why and how understanding the concept of latent heat is a requirement for safe boiler operation.
Temperature-Exchanging Process Industry Equipment (Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers, Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Trains).
Temperature-Decreasing Process Industry Equipment (Endothermic Chemical Reactions, Fin Fan Heat Exchangers, Condensers, Cooling Towers).
Process Industry Equipment designed for Phase Changes/Physical State Changes (Package and Waste Heat Boilers, Reboilers, Cooling Towers, Condensers).
Process industry piping strategies that conserve thermal energy ... aka "heat." (Economizers, Preheaters).
Process industry equipment purposely installed to conserve what would otherwise be wasted thermal energy (Waste Heat Boilers).
The industrial application of Waste Heat Boilers in natural gas conversion processes.
Common problems that will be found in any circulating process stream.

Integrated science topics that supported the above Temperature-Changing Equipment Focus Study included:

Name the products and reactants in these reactions.

Interpreting written chemical reactions and their direct application to process industry reactors and industrial process chemical reactions that upgrade raw materials into more valuable products.
How and why temperature changes cause phase changes.
Understanding the difference between "latent" and "sensible" heat and the application of the knowledge with respect to operating Package Boilers and Waste Heat Boilers.
Understanding the difference between "saturated" and "superheated" steam and the application of the knowledge with respect to operating Package Boilers and Waste Heat Boilers.
Understanding how natural convection is caused by changes in density and the application of the knowledge with respect to the operation of Cooling Towers.
A summary of the industry jargon that appeared in the PTOA Temperature-Changing Focus Study.

Note: Refrigeration and cryogenics were not included in the Temperature-Changing Equipment Focus Study because that topic fits better in the future PTOA Process Systems Focus Study Area.

PV TEMPERATURE FOCUS STUDY #3:
HEAT TRANSFER

The three types of heat transfer and how temperature-changing process industry equipment is designed to optimize heat transfer were featured throughout PTOA Segments #57 to #93.

Where is the radiant and conduction heat transfer in this schematic?

The Heat Transfer Focus Study was a brain burner because it applied science, technology, engineering, and math concepts to teach PTOA Readers and Students mathematical expressions that define heat transfer via conduction, convection, and radiation.

No Process Operator can optimize the operation of temperature-changing process industry equipment until s/he understands the application of the three modes of heat transfer in the design of the equipment.

The PTOA Heat Transfer Focus Study featured:

The differences between Temperature and Heat.
The driving force needed for heat transfer: Temperature Differential.
The unavoidable existence of heat sinks that impact heat transfer.
A fundamental understanding of each of the separate factors that enhance or diminish Conduction Heat Transfer, Convection Heat Transfer, and Heat Transfer via Radiation.
How the three modes of heat transfer work together to raise and lower process stream temperatures.
Each type of temperature-changing process industry equipment introduced in Focus Study #2 was re-examined to understand how the design of the equipment incorporates heat transfer.
This operator can save or waste $$$.
Each type of temperature-changing process industry equipment introduced in Focus Study #2 was re-examined to understand the role Outside Process Operators and Control Board Operators play in optimizing the heat transfer that takes place in the equipment.
The impact of fuel composition changes on the combustion reaction was studied.
The benefits of optimizing the combustion air (aka oxygen)-to-fuel ratio in burners were studied; the benefits are efficient heat transfer, eliminating flame out, and reducing harmful emissions.
Identification of heat transfer problems like flame impingement and coke buildup in fired heaters was studied.
Poorly Operated Heater!
The evaporative heat loss (aka: evaporative cooling) and Relative Humidity that impact Cooling Tower function was studied.
The use of insulation (or alternatively bare piping) to protect against (or alternatively exploit) the unavoidable heat sink of ambient conditions was studied.

Integrated science, technology, engineering,and math topics that supported the above PTOA Heat Transfer Focus Study included:

Everybody knows velocity is distance/time!

De-mystifying mathematical expressions and realizing that they are simply short hand for describing scientific definitions.
Dimensional analysis revealed that all mathematical expressions are simply expressing how Stuff/Matter/Mass, Length/Distance, and Time are related.
The definition and use of wet-bulb and dry-bulb thermometers to determine Relative Humidity.
The introduction of regulatory practices and permitting that are necessary to mitigate the environmental degradation that is caused by processing industries.
The correlation of processing plant profitability with optimization of energy conservation and waste heat strategies.
How heat transfer is a fairy tale in Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Summary of the industry that appeared in the PTOA Heat Transfer Focus Study.

FOCUS STUDY #4:
PV TEMPERATURE DETECTION AND MEASUREMENT

Temperature Detection and Measurement instruments were featured in PTOA Segments #94 to #119. Some of the instruments in the focus study could also locally indicate and record process stream temperatures.

Is the instrument working right?

Process Operators must be sufficiently competent understanding the operating theory that supports temperature detection and measuring equipment so they can identify faulty readings and write intelligent work orders for the Instrumentation Technician.

Instrument-Techie PTOA Readers and Students must possess a core competency of temperature detection and measuring devices to enable proper application of each temperature measuring technology as well as troubleshoot faulty instrumentation.

The PTOA Temperature Detection and Measurement Focus Study featured:

Temperature detection/measuring devices based upon the relationship between temperature changes and volume changes (e.g., Liquid-in-Glass Thermometers). Volume changes are also called density changes.
Temperature detection/measuring/local indicating devices based upon the relationship between temperature changes and volume changes (e.g., Fluid Filled Systems with a helically wound bourdon tube linked to pointer and dial).
Temperature detection/measuring/local indicating and simple on-off control devices based upon the linear expansion rates of conjoined metals (Bimetallic strips).
Temperature detecting/measuring devices that can output an electrically transmitted standard signal to a control room or other DCS component (Thermocouples, RTDs, and Thermistors).
The wide variety of thermocouple calibrations and how they generate millivolt output.
Pure metal RTDs and how they generate electrical resistance.
Semiconductor NTC and PTC thermistors and their uses and applications in everyday life.
Optical and IR pyrometry used for no-touch temperature measurement.

Instrument Tech Must-Knows presented in the Temperature Detection and Measurement Focus Study included:

The crucial importance of Instrument Accuracy, Repeatability, Reliability with respect to accurate PV detection and measurement.
The sources of instrument-related measurement error and online measurement error that impact measurement accuracy.
A methodology that can be used to evaluate pros, cons, and best application of any process variable detecting and measuring device as well as each component within a control loop.
How bourdon tubes transduce molecular movement into mechanical movement and why boudon tubes must be compensated to generate accurate measurement.
Thermocouple probe styles pros and cons and why thermocouples must be cold junction compensated and require specific extension wire to generate accurate temperature measurements.
How Wheatstone Bridge circuits convert electrical resistance into a potential difference and why they require excitation circuits.
How thermistor resistance output can be measured with a multimeter.

Integrated science, technology, engineering, and math topics that supported the above PTOA Temperature Detection and Measurement Focus Study included:

The difference between physical and chemical properties of Stuff/Matter/Mass.
Emphasis on the fundamental concept that the thing humans recognize as "an increase in temperature" is the outcome that is observed when molecules become heated and agitated (and vice versa).
Understanding the direct relationship between increased temperature and the increased volume that would be needed to contain a quantity of molecules (and vice versa). A change in volume is also known as a change in density.
Understanding the direct relationship between increased temperature and the increased linear expansion of materials (and vice versa).
Definition and real-world use of Kelvin and Rankin Absolute Temperature Scales.
The driving force needed for current to flow: Voltage Differential (aka Potential Difference).
Ohm's Law and it application to simple electrical circuits.
Every graph tells a story!
Interpreting-for-meaning the graph of a real-world linear and/or otherwise predictable relationship between two things. The slope of the graph reveals how steady the relationship between the two things is.
A summary of the industry jargon that appeared in the PTOA Temperature Detection and Measurement Focus Study is coming up soon.