Remotely Controlled Instruments

Fonr instrnments were deployed in unmanned sites, where they monitored VOCs in natural waters and wastewater during a period exceeding one year for each instrument The instruments were equipped with software that facilitated the automatic operation of each analysis, the identification and quantitation of VOCs from the raw mass spectra, and the transmission of the results to a remote control room via internet connection. In the remote control room, a personal computer with dedicated software displayed the results as bar graphs and was programed to activate alarms when set concentration thresholds were exceeded. Laboratory performance in terms of sensitivity, reproducibility, linearity tests, and comparison with P T/GC/MS together with field performance in terms of data output, most frequent maintenance operations and technical failures, and overall stability of the four remotely-controlled instruments are discussed. 

Install flame arresters on atmospheric vents to prevent fire on the outside of the tank from propagating back into the vapor space inside the tank. Provide fire resistant insulation for critical vessels, piping, outlet valves on tanks, valve actuators, instruments lines, and key electrical facilities. Provide remote controlled, automatic, and fire-actuated valves to stop loss of tank contents during an emergency provide fire protection to these valves. Valves should be close-coupled to the tank, and must be resistant to corrosion or other deleterious effects of spilled fluids. Vessels should be provided with overpressure relief protection. 

Remote—An instrument located away from the equipment (normally a control cabinet). 

Move the back-stop out of the way. This is done using the remote control unit next to the instrument. 

Use an infrared remote control to control the instrument as follows ... 

Starting the instrument after the required volume has been set, the air sampler is started by pressing the [ON/OEF] key or using the remote control. Starting the instrument with the remote control is possible only after the instrument has been switched on. 

The device known as DOVAP (Ddppler Velocity and Position), used for determination of flight of a missile, is described in Ref 3- This instrumentation system is so organized that several receiving stations feed data simultaneously from outlying locations to a centrally located recorder station. A remote control system permits an operator at the central recording station to check out and operate all receiver stations associated with the recording station... 

In lute 1941 Australian government researchers announced the development of a remote-controlled vehicle that can scout ahead of a rescue crew to locale missing and injured miners. Three stereo-video cameras permit the vehicle to operate in murky areas of a mine. The vehicle also includes gas analysis instrumentation. A fiber-optic cable, wound on a large drum, permits surface operators to convey instructions to the vehicle and to receive the results of gas analysis data and images of what the vehicle "sees. The vehicle is named after a burrowing marsupial, Numbat. 

The surface pressure of the film is determined by measuring the force which must be applied via a torsion wire to maintain the float at a fixed position on the surface (located optically) and dividing by the length of the float. For precise work, the surface balance is enclosed in an air thermostat and operated by remote control. With a good modern instrument, surface pressures can be measured with an accuracy of 0.01 mN m1. 

Second, a steam curtain should be set up to completely surround the area in which a flammable material release could occur. However, because of wind conditions, it might not be necessary to activate all sections of the curtain, just those downwind of the release. Therefore, it should be possible to control the sections of the curtain that are actually in service through remotely controlled, quick-acting valves. Such control provides the capability to quickly change active curtain sections as wind direction varies. Keep in mind, though, that capability requires good local instrumentation... 

Another area of research that could be profitably explored is the use of remote sensing instruments to measure surface temperatures of textile assemblies. Infrared thermovision cameras have been used to visualize temperature distributions over clothed and nude persons in order to study the transport of microorganisms by convective heat flow (112). A variety of less expensive radiometers and radiation pyrometers that are used to measure and automatically control the temperature of textiles during drying and texturing (113, llU, 115) could also assess the thermal behavior of apparel and clothing assemblies and thus elucidate their contribution to thermal comfort indoors. 

Associated apparatus is commonly installed in a safe area. Many applications of intrinsic safety in remote control and monitoring instrumentation are assembled in such a way that an intrinsically safe apparatus, e.g. a sensor or actuator in the hazardous area, is connected with an associated apparatus, e.g. a safety barrier or an Ex i-isolator in the safe area (see Fig. 6.196). With that, the associated apparatus takes over the function to safely limit current and voltage in the intrinsically safe circuit to permissible values. 

As mentioned above, the main domain of application of intrinsic safety is remote control and monitoring instrumentation. More than two million intrinsically safe circuits for sensors and actuators alone are installed anew or modernized year by year. 

Instrumentation philosophy (local/remote control, hardwired/data highway, failure mode(s), analog/digital, emergency alarms, etc.). 

Loop testing of remote control loops is a two-person exercise, with one person located in the field and the other in the control room or instrument room. Each person must be provided with an adequate means of remote commuification (e.g., field telephones or two-way radios) as approved by the customer. 

Labor costs should be minimized, as with any manufacturing operation. Depending upon the robustness of the system and the amount of process control instrumentation, it might in later generations of the system be possible to achieve unattended or remote operation of a biological H2 production facility. Using a wastewater treat-... 

All of the experimental equipment was remotely controlled from inside a blockhouse. A bullet-proof window allowed the test equipment to be observed safely. During a test, the blockhouse was manned by several operators who controlled the flow and data systems. Flow data in the form of pressure and temperature readings from calibrated venturi flow systems were recorded automatically. Reactor and burner gas temperatures were measured with specially constructed thermocouples. The test piece was instrumented with a series of pressure transducers throughout its length. 

There are two control rooms. One is near the nitrator house in a control bunker, another is further away in a remote control room at a safe distance. The latter is provided with instruments to start, supervise Redox, pM NG-water emulsion and a device to shut down the unit. Both control rooms are provided with TV sets. Signals between the two houses are both electric and pneumatic, although controls on the nitration unit are only pneumatic. The remote control room is operated in case of emergency and necessity or breakdown of the automatic system. 

The FT-IR microscope combines microscopy with IR spectroscopy to provide a versatile instrument for molecular microanalysis. The technique has really taken off in the last decade and has embraced a wide range of applications. Nowadays, developments in PC and software products allow for instruments with remote control (including focusing) of microscopes. 

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