Customer Reviews

Instrument Engineers' Handbook, Third Edition: Process Measurement and Analysis

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Excellent book. I second Mr. Hills comments, although I have recently purchased the books based upon comments Mr.Liptak has made in the control mailing list. It is a very good investment. The book is easy to read/understand, covers the full spectrum of instrumentation,give relative costs and companies manufacturing the items. It is a good first book to turn to, and will save me much research time. I wish I would have known about it earlier.

I have used this book for years and it has never failed to provide the information necessary to troubleshoot and repair problems with measurement systems. Liptak does a wonderful job presenting measurement theory and the principles of operation of various measurement strategies. The most helpful information Liptak includes is the discussion of the limitation of various measurement devices. If you are responsible for the maintenance of a wide variety of instruments and you desire to know how those instruments work, this book is worth every penny.

The book cover almost every single instrument used in the process industry for Process measurement and Analysis of the most common process variables. The book covers Flow, Level, Temperature, Pressure, Density, Safety and Miscellaneous Sensors (Vibration, Shock, acceleration, torque, noise, etc.)

One of the aspect that I find more appealing is that at the beginning of each chapter you find an application and selection oriented overview and an orientation table for the process variable covered in that chapter of the book. The tables list all the different types of sensors and summarize the features and capabilities, as well as approximated prices, accuracies and characteristics of each one. If you need a sensor for a particular application, you can narrow your options and then go to the sections of the book that covers in details the selected sensors.

If you work with Industrial Instrumentation you will find this book to be a very valuable tool in your day to day job, either if you specify, install, maintain or operate them.

This handbook has almost 2000 pages of really useful information.

I have been working in the Process Industries for more than 16 years as an Automation, Instrumentation, Process Safety and Process Control Engineer. I consider this book to be the very best in the field, and it is really an Excellent reference for anyone and everyone working in these areas or in areas related with their Industrial applications.

This volume set is truly he ultimate and most authoritative reference for any Engineer or Technician working with Industrial Instrumentation, Automation and Process Control Systems. Either if you design, consult, maintain or operate related facilities and systems, you will find this collection most useful. Be aware that the first two volumes have been updated, and their fourth editions are available right now. I own the fourth edition of the first two volumes, and they have been an absolutely invaluable reference for my job.

This set contains more than six thousand pages of practical and invaluable information. The collection is organized as follows:

VOLUME I: Process Measurement and Analytical Instrumentation

This Volume covers almost every single instrument used in the process industry for Process measurement and Analysis of the most common process variables. The book covers Flow, Level, Temperature, Pressure, Density, Safety and Miscellaneous Sensors (Vibration, Shock, acceleration, torque, noise, etc.)

One of the aspect that I find more appealing is that at the beginning of each chapter you find an application and selection oriented overview and an orientation table for the process variable covered in that chapter of the book. The tables list all the different types of sensors and summarize the features and capabilities, as well as approximated prices, accuracies and characteristics of each one. If you need a sensor for a particular application, you can narrow your options and then go to the sections of the book that covers in details the selected sensors.

If you work with Industrial Instrumentation you will find this book to be a very valuable tool in your day to day job, either if you specify, install, maintain or operate them.

This handbook has almost 2000 pages of really useful information.

I have been working in the Process Industries for more than 16 years as an Automation, Instrumentation, Process Safety and Process Control Engineer. I consider this book to be the very best in the field, and it is really an Excellent reference for anyone and everyone working in these areas or in areas related with their Industrial applications.

VOLUME II: Process Control and Optimization

Absolutely the Very Best Process Control Reference for the Process Control Engineer - Now Updated and Expanded !!. This is the second volume of the Instrument Engineer's Handbook, and. as its title suggests, it deals with Process control and Optimization, covering everything from Control Hardware, Control Theory, Control Strategies, and the Control and Optimization of Specific Unit Operations.

The Chapters on Control Hardware cover in detail transmitters, controllers, control valves, regulators and other types of final control elements, PLCs, and other logic devices, human interfaces and displays, including the design of control rooms.

The Chapters on Control Theory and Control Strategies covers everything from control basics and PID controllers, to tuning methods, stability, process characteristics, process modeling and simulation, model-based control, genetic and other evolutionary algorithms, fuzzy logic programming, neural networks and other advance control strategies.

The Chapters on Control and Optimization of Unit Operations provide both in-depth of both the theory of operation and control, and practical implementation for the control of pumping, distillation, chemical reaction, heat transfer and many other.

While evaluating and reviewing such sophisticated topics about Process Control, this handbook also tries and succeeds to provide and reinforce the reader with the most useful tool for the Automation and Control Engineer: Common Sense. In order to emphasize the importance of Common Sense, the Author gives some practical recommendations that include the following ones:

- Before we can control a process, one must fully understand it.
- Being progressive is good, but being a guinea pig is not. Therefore is the wrong control strategy is implemented, the performance of even the most advanced digital hardware will be unacceptable.
- And Instrumentation, Automation, and Process Control Engineer or Technician is doing a good and better job by telling plant management what they need to know, and not what they like to hear.
- If an instrument is worth installing, it should also be worth calibrating and maintaining. No device can outperform the reference against it was calibrated.
- Trust your common sense not the sales literature. Independent performance evaluation based on the recommendation of international and national users associations should be done before installation, and not after it.

I am an Industrial Practitioner of Process Measurement & Control. I have been working in the Process Industries for more than 16 years as an Automation, Instrumentation, Process Safety and Process Control Engineer. I consider this book to be the very best reference in the field for anyone and everyone working in these areas or in areas related with their Industrial applications. You will find this handbook useful, either if your work is related with the engineering, maintenance or operation of Process Control Systems.

VOLUME III: Process Software and Digital Networks

The third volume of the Instrument Engineers' Handbook, Third Edition provides an in-depth review of digital communications and control systems. The book focuses on the transportation of digital information by buses and networks, but also describes a variety of process-control software packages for plant optimization, maintenance, and safety related applications. Topics include plant design and modernization, safety and operations-related logic systems, and the design of integrated workstations and control centers. An appendix provides practical information, including bidders lists and addresses, steam tables, and materials selection for corrosive services.

I had my company purchase this reference to aid in the design of process systems. Rather than ask coworkers and receive vague or simplified answers, I ordered the book. The first two volumes are essential for a beginning mechanical engineer to have in the office library. Volume I covers equipment and components, and Volume II covers its usage, design, and purpose/significance. The detail of the book is excellent, especially in the decisions of selection and sizing.

Pages are loaded with flowcharts, diagrams, pictures, equations and everything else expected in a reference manual. A variety of contributors keeps the material lively and easy to read. Sections are clearly labeled, with equally clear subsections that make finding information quick and easy.

I had borrowed the same book, except the 3rd edition as a reference to bring to my Professional Engineers exam and liked it so much that I had to get the most recent version.
This book not only yields the why and how. It also goes into the cost of certain process instruments (least to most expensive). On top of that it outlines general physical placement, and in what applications the transmitters are best suited.
This is just a great all around book to have in your office, which will enable you to make more educated decisions about your given process applications.

This volume of Bela Liptak's "Instrument Engineers' Handbook" series is a phenomenal piece of work. Written to help newly-minted engineers come up to speed with practical applications in industry, it is a masterpiece of technical content and outstanding readability. What impresses me the most about this work is how Liptak's editorial hand has wrought a text accessible to a wide range of readers yet uncompromising in its technical scope.

As an instructor of Instrumentation at a two-year technical college, I have had my students use this book -- both the third and fourth editions -- as their primary source material for their study on measurement technologies. The fact that my students (who are not being trained as engineers, but technicians) find this book of significant value to their learning is a testament to its writing quality.

If I had anything negative to say about this book, it is that writing style betrays its collective authorship. This book is a compilation of chapters written by different authors, with Bela Liptak as the editor-in-chief. As such, style and presentation varies a bit from chapter to chapter. This should not discourage anyone from buying the book, though. It is a must-have for any professional in the field of industrial instrumentation and automation.