Acknowledgments v About the Authors xii Preface xiii Tip #1: Always Ask "Why?" - And Never Stop Learning 1 Tip #2: Always Note the Author of a Technical Article 3 Tip #3: Pain Is Instructive 5 Tip #4: Never Lie 7 Tip #5: Admit Your Errors 9 Tip #6: Change for the Sake of Change Is Not Always a Good Thing, but "We''ve Always Done It That Way" Is a Poor Reason to Avoid Trying New Things 11 Tip #7: If You Have to Tell Everyone How Smart You Are, You Probably Aren''t 13 Tip #8: Never Underestimate the Power of Politics and Emotion 15 Tip #9: The O-ring Seal in an On/Off Actuator Can Be a Good Predictor of Its Reliability 17 Tip #10: Butterfly Valves and/or Ball Valves with Positioners Are NOT Control Valves! 19 Tip #11: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Vortex Flowmeters 21 Tip #12: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Magmeters 23 Tip #13: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Differential Pressure Flow Devices 25 Tip #14: Capillary Seal Pitfalls 27 Tip #15: You Cannot Control What You Do Not Understand 29 Tip #16: Use Outlines and/or Flow Charts First 31 Tip #17: You Can Never Have Too Much Messaging 33 Tip #18: Cheap Instrumentation Is Exactly That 35 Tip #19: Always Run Spare Wires and Plan for Expansion 37 Tip #20: Spend the Money to Individually Fuse I/O with Indicating Fuse Blocks 39 Tip #21: Too Many Alarms Can Be Worse Than None at All 41 Tip #22: Details Matter 43 Tip #23: Anticipate Murphy; He Is Alive and Well 45 Tip #24: When Performing a DCS Retrofit, Take Time to Study the I/O Cards 47 Tip #25: Make Sure the Coffee Is Strong and the Pot Brews Quickly on Start-up 49 Tip #26: Document Your Code 51 Tip #27: Create, Thoroughly Test, THEN Replicate 53 Tip #28: "Plug and Play" Devices Often Don''t 55 Tip #29: Tricks for Control Panels 57 Tip #30: Appearance Matters 59 Tip #31: Project Management Is Really Risk Management 61 Tip #32: General Project Management Tips 63 Tip #33: High Pay Is Great but Life Is Too Short to Stay in a Job You Dislike 65 Tip #34: Take Time to Learn Exactly How Instruments Work 67 Tip #35: Operators Can Make or Break an Automation Project 69 Tip #36: A College Degree Does NOT Buy You Respect, Nor Is It a Good Indication of What You Know 71 Tip #37: Get Past the References You Are Offered 73 Tip #38: Derail Scripted Demonstrations 75 Tip #39: Know the Codes 77 Tip #40: Engineers Are Generally AWFUL Communicators Do Not Fall into That Trap 79 Tip #41: If Possible, Get Plant Experience Early 81 Tip #42: Money Drives Corporate Behavior 83 Tip #43: Small, Continuous Waste Streams = BIG Money 85 Tip #44: Foster Relationships with Honest Vendors 87 Tip #45: Learn to Estimate Jobs 89 Tip #46: Success Breeds Success and Mediocrity Is Never Acceptable 91 Tip #47: Grow Your Direct Reports 93 Tip #48: Treat Everyone with Respect and Do Not Accept a Lack of Respect from Others 95 Tip #49: Working For a Boss Whom You Do Not Respect Is Difficult 97 Tip #50: Ask for Feedback 99 Tip #51: Seek Conversations with Knowledgeable People 101 Tip #52: Be a Good Listener 103 Tip #53: Find and Read Technical Articles and Books 105 Tip #54: Look for Opportunities to Improve Plant Profitability 107 Tip #55: Use the Best Technology, Even if the Price Tag Is Higher 109 Tip #56: Learn New Skills and Explore Technological Advances as an Extracurricular Activity 111 Tip #57: Be a Team Player 113 Tip #58: Make Yourself More Marketable 115 Tip #59: Document the Benefits of Improvements 117 Tip #60: Write and Present Papers 119 Tip #61: Install Online Process Metrics 121 Tip #62: Demonstrate and Prototype Improvements via Dynamic Models 123 Tip #63: Use Field Analyzers to Measure Key Component Concentrations 125 Tip #64: Improve Setpoints 127 Tip #65: Use High Rangeability Flowmeters and Valves to Increase Plant Turndown 129 Tip #66: Seek First Principles for a Deeper Understanding 131 Tip #67: Find the Best Measurement Location 133 Tip #68: Find the Best Valve Location 135 Tip #69: Add Control Loops to Eliminate Manual Actions and Sequences 137 Tip #70: Minimize Deadtime 139 Tip #71: Achieve Best Disturbance Rejection and Setpoint Response 141 Tip #72: Achieve Best Loop Coordination and Optimization 143 Tip #73: Use Coriolis Meters for Mass Flow and Concentration Control 145 Tip #74: Eliminate Split Range Oscillations 147 Tip #75: Use Wireless Transmitters for Diagnostics, Improvements, and Metrics 149 Tip #76: Use Checklists to Cover All the Bases 151 Tip #77: Increase the PID Gain and Reset Time for Vessel and Column Control 153 Tip #78: Decrease the PID Gain and Reset Time for Pipeline and Inline Control 155 Tip #79: Understand How Equipment and Operating Conditions Affect Process Dynamics 157 Tip #80: Use Sliding Stem Valves for Tighter Control 159 Tip #81: Select the Best Type and Size of Actuator for Tight Control 161 Tip #82: Use and Tune Smart Positioners 163 Tip #83: Don''t Use On-Off Valves for Control Valves 165 Tip #84: Use Signal Characterization in the DCS to Linearize Valve Installed Flow Characteristic 167 Tip #85: Use Linear Reagent Demand Control for Systems with Difficult-to-Control pH 169 Tip #86: Test the pH Response Time to Determine the Health of a Glass Electrode 171 Tip #87: Monitor the pH Offset to Determine the Health of a Reference Electrode 173 Tip #88: Use Middle Signal Selection to Improve pH Measurement Reliability 175 Tip #89: Identify Deadtime and Ramp Rate 177 Tip #90: Compute and Trend a Future PV 179 Tip #91: Use Output Tracking to Improve Setpoint and Abnormal Condition Response 181 Tip #92: Make Reset Time and Feedforward Action Smarter 183 Tip #93: Use a Viewable and Adjustable Flow Ratio and a Feedforward Summer 185 Tip #94: Smooth the Transition between Batch and Continuous Operations 187 Tip #95: Use External-Reset Feedback for Cascade Control and Slow Final Control Elements 189 Tip #96: Optimize Batch End Points and Cycle Times 191 Tip #97: Use Valve Position Control to Optimize Process Efficiency and Capacity 193 Tip #98: Achieve the Required Simulation Fidelity 195 Tip #99: Use a Virtual Plant for All Dynamic Models 197 Tip #100: Use an Enhanced PID for At-Line and Off-Line Analyzers 199 Tip #101: Use Plant-Wide Feedforward for More Flexible and Efficient Production 201 Appendix A: References 203 Appendix B: Vintage Books 205 Appendix C: Checklists 206 Appendix D: Dynamics 223 Appendix E: Enhanced PID 229 Appendix F: First Principle Process Gains, Deadtimes, and Time Constants 231.