Degrees of automation

At least in industrial countries, the decision regarding the degree of automation is almost always the same. Mostly, the operator wishes for a so-called fuUy automatic plant This means that apart from management, repair and maintenance personnel only the control room has to be staffed. These qualified personnel are able to operate even large plants. 

In low-wage countries this decision may turn out to be different Here, cheap personnel are often sufficiently available, while investment capital is scarce. In extreme cases, even individual controls like level control or flow control can be carried out by a single person. 

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During the past few years radioscopy has established itself in many fields that demand instant evaluation and a high degree of automation, as is the case in serial inspection. Furthermore, user experience has clearly shown that inspection costs can be considerably reduced by this technique. 

Thus, in the area of combinatorial chemistry, many compounds are produced in short time ranges, and their structures have to be confirmed by analytical methods. A high degree of automation is required, which has fueled the development of software that can predict NMR spectra starting from the chemical structure, and that calculates measures of similarity between simulated and experimental spectra. These tools are obviously also of great importance to chemists working with just a few compounds at a time, using NMR spectroscopy for structure confirmation. 

The various welding processes result in systems of varying complexity. They include at least the electrode and a device for holding or feeding it, the work piece, the power source, and heavy-duty cabling to provide a complete electrical circuit. Provisions for supply and control of gas and control of wire feed and movement of the electrode assembly are required, depending on process type and degree of automation. 

Table 3. Typical Classes of Pilot Plants by Degree of Automation ...

Process Va.ria.tlons. The conventional techniques for tea manufacture have been replaced in part by newer processing methods adopted for a greater degree of automation and control. These newer methods include withering modification (78), different types of maceration equipment (79), closed systems for fermentation (80), and fluid-bed dryers (81). A thermal process has been described which utilizes decreased time periods for enzymatic reactions but depends on heat treatment at 50—65°C to develop black tea character (82). It is claimed that tannin—protein complex formation is decreased and, therefore, greater tannin extractabiUty is achieved. Tea value is beheved to be increased through use of this process. 

For the same production capacity, the oxygen-based process requires fewer reactors, all of which operate in parallel and are exposed to reaction gas of the same composition. However, the use of purge reactors in series for an air-based process in conjunction with the associated energy recovery system increases the overall complexity of the unit. Given the same degree of automation, the operation of an oxygen-based unit is simpler and easier if the air-separation plant is outside the battery limits of the ethylene oxide process (97). 

The engineer estimating the operating labor must visualize the plant operation, degree of automation, and the labor climate for the project being estimated. For most hydrocarbon processing plants, each control room should have at least one operator with no outside duties. For very large control rooms, more than one such operator may be needed. 

The human factors audit was part of a hazard analysis which was used to recommend the degree of automation required in blowdown situations. The results of the human factors audit were mainly in terms of major errors which could affect blowdown success likelihood, and causal factors such as procedures, training, control room design, team communications, and aspects of hardware equipment. The major emphasis of the study was on improving the human interaction with the blowdown system, whether manual or automatic. Two specific platform scenarios were investigated. One was a significant gas release in the molecular sieve module (MSM) on a relatively new platform, and the other a release in the separator module (SM) on an older generation platform. 

Rig type and performance of drilling personnel (rig size, degree of automation, power equipment, etc.)... 

Labor costs These will depend on the manning levels and degree of automation of the plant. 

To enable qnantitative measurements to be made, the analyst requires the ability to determine the areas or heights of the detector responses of analyte(s) and any internal standard that may be present and then, from these figures, to derive the amount(s) of analyte(s) present in the unknown sample. The software provided with the mass spectrometer allows this to be done with a high degree of automation if the analyst so desires. 

A relative term, applied to the generation of a large number of results (e.g., 100,000) in a short timeframe (week or month). Usually achieved by employing a substantial degree of automation. 

The classical Soxhlet extraction technique has seen some improvements, mainly in the submersion of the whole extraction thimble into the boiling extraction solvent, degree of automation, and in reduction of solvent volume. In a recently introduced universal extraction system (Biichi) four SLE methods are contained in one device Soxhlet Standard, Soxhlet warm, hot extraction and continuous flow. It is possible to use solvents with boiling points of up to 150 °C inert gas can be supplied during the extraction process. 

The main characteristic features of HPTLC (use of fine particle layers for fast separations, sorbents with a wide range of sorption properties, high degree of automation for sample application, development and detection) are the exact opposite of conventional TLC. Expectations in terms of performance, ease of use and quantitative information from the two approaches to TLC are truly opposite [419], Modern TLC faces an uncertain future while conventional TLC is likely to survive as a general laboratory tool. 

Data analysed by user, certain degree of automation... 

The advantages of on-line SPE are shown in Table 7.17. Using on-line SPE-LC systems, a higher degree of automation, with a lower amount of sample and low detection limits, is usually obtained. 

The character and the degree of automation in chemical control may have been covered in the above treatment of semi-automatic or completely automatic, and of discontinuous or continuous analysis, but something more should be said about the means by which automation proper has been performed in recent times. Whereas in the past automated analysis involved the use of merely, mechanical robots, to-day s automation is preferably based on computerization in a way which can best be explained with a few specific examples. Adjustment knobs have been increasingly replaced with push-buttons that activate an enclosed fully dedicated microcomputer or microprocessor in line with the measuring instrument the term microcomputer is applicable if, apart from the microprocessor as the central processing unit (CPU), it contains additional, albeit limited, memory (e.g., 4K), control logics and input and output lines, by means of which it can act as satellite of a larger computer system (e.g., in laboratory computerization) if not enclosed, the microcomputer is called on-line. 

Earlier in this chapter we considered the nature of chemical control (Section 5.1), the character and degree of automation (Section 5.2) with the choice between discontinuous and continuous analysis, the role of electroanalysis in automated chemical control (Section 5.3) and automated electroanalysis in laboratory control (Section 5.4). 

There are as many variations in coating procedures as there are tablet coaters, and so the account given here is only a guide. Nevertheless, it illustrates the complexity and time-consuming nature of the process, and the reader will realize why efforts have been made to develop alternate coatings, equipment, and methods that permit at least some degree of automation. 

Stripping of hazardous substances Mercury switches and other components containing particularly hazardous substances must be removed CFCs are recovered from the cooling circuit and PU foam with special equipment and appliances with varying degrees of automation ammonia is dissolved in water and separate disposal of waste oil (from compressors). 

Scientific control problems are widespread in both academia and industry. Large segments of the chemical industry are devoted to the synthesis of bulk chemicals and the plants in which synthesis is performed, run with a high degree of automation. For most practical purposes, any chemical plant that operates on an industrial scale runs completely under automatic control. 

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