Today's industrial landscape is characterized by unprecedented volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. As a result, it is becoming increasingly important for assets and people to operate more efficiently at lower costs and with greater safety. In this context, sensing technology and its advancements play a key role in keeping industrial operations competitive and efficient.
Sensing technology and its various applications continue to evolve with technology and business needs. Sensors can be used to detect a variety of physical attributes ranging from distance to heat to pressure. Today's products use sensors to sense everything around them; they have the ability to be very accurate, consume less power, and are inexpensive to install and maintain. Sensors are proving to be an important part of creating new value for their processes and related businesses.
1. What is sensing technology? How does it relate to sensors?
The range of sensors is very broad and there are many types, but fundamentally, a sensor is a device that detects a characteristic quantity of a measurement object and converts that quantity into a readable signal that is displayed on an instrument. In short, sensing is a technology that uses sensors to acquire information by detecting a physical, chemical or biological characteristic quantity and converting it into a readable signal.
In fact, there are a wide variety of sensors available to meet any industrial need. For demanding, mission-critical industrial applications, sensors can help improve processes and provide unparalleled asset protection. These sensors provide real-time monitoring, including the detection and reporting required by the process. Data monitored and collected by sensors is sent for control and analysis, and any anomalies in specific properties are reported by sensors sending out electrical signals. In this way, sensors can improve process efficiency and product quality, while ensuring that the process is in line with best practices.
2. Understanding machine sensing from the human senses
In principle, any material or device that has the ability to detect abstract, intangible or physical properties is a sensor. We are surrounded by sensors, which successfully measure and detect many of the devices and processes that successfully operate around us.
In fact, the normal functioning of the human body depends on five sense organs - eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. The function of the body's senses (sense organs) is clearly defined - they acquire information about the external environment and transmit it to the brain for processing. The brain then directs the body to further courses of action. The proper functioning of the sense organs is essential for the safety and health of the human body.
Over the years, many specialized sensors have been developed that can detect a wide range of physical or chemical properties.
Physical sensors play an important role in vision, hearing and touch, sensing and converting physical quantities such as light, sound waves, pressure and temperature into electrical signals.
Chemical sensors play a role in taste and odor. Depending on the presence, concentration and composition of various chemicals, it converts and detects electrical signals.
Biosensors are considered part of chemical sensors, but they utilize biological properties that emit electrical and optical signals to detect states or substances.
There are highly sensitive sensors that can detect magnetic and radiation doses that are undetectable by human senses.
Sensors in industrial applications play a vital role, much like the sensory organs in the human body. The process industries have large clusters of machines or systems and interconnected devices that depend on sensors to function properly. Sensors networked in the process stream continuously detect, measure and transmit electrical signals of any changes in the physical environment. The electrical signals are transmitted to a control system (computer) which processes the data and further directs the process.
As society continues to advance, process flows and control mechanisms have changed. In fact, modern machines now have highly sensitive and widely available options for human-machine interfaces for control and monitoring. Sensing technology is so automated that it is possible to select human desires and intentions and take the process further.
Thus, just as the sense organs of the human body are responsible for a variety of tasks and are a key element in the proper functioning of life, sensors play the same role in industry by constantly checking various process parameters for continuous operation.
3. the industrial use of sensors
Essentially, industrial processes are physical, chemical, electrical or mechanical steps leading to the manufacture of products. Highly developed process industries have well-defined and documented processes. It is critical to continuously measure and accurately control the status of each manufacturing process to avoid unintended component changes and unstable production conditions. It is also important to the success of the process to maximize the performance of the infrastructure by monitoring the condition of production equipment and utilities and performing optimal maintenance management. That's why industrial sensors and instruments are designed for process monitoring and asset monitoring.
(1) Process Monitoring
Process monitoring sensors are used to monitor the status of products and processes in a plant. These sensors, which are placed in the production process, continuously detect the state of the object under test and transmit it as process data to the control unit. The control unit then compares the transmitted signal with the target value, converts the difference into a controlled variable, outputs it, and then changes it to the measured state. By repeating this cycle, "feedback control" is performed to maintain the monitored object in a stable controlled state.
These sensors require continuous, real-time data input and high-speed response. These reliable sensors fine-tune the process in real time to eliminate blind spots, resulting in high quality production and optimal plant operation.
(2) Asset Monitoring
Asset monitoring sensors play a vital role in monitoring plant equipment. The data they retrieve and transmit forms the basis for analysis and alarms. By analyzing sensor output data, the health of plant equipment can be diagnosed. This diagnosis is then used for alarm management, predictive maintenance of equipment and more effective maintenance patrols. Highly responsive sensors can help prevent plant accidents, extend process uptime and improve equipment life.
As process automation evolves so does sensing technology, resulting in more powerful and better networked sensing devices. Sensors have been deployed in companies across a wide range of industries including oil, gas, petrochemical, chemical, power, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, food, steel, water and wastewater treatment, and metals. Advances in industry have paved the way for specialized sensor categories. As the transition to digitalization accelerates, the need for greater process automation, enhanced anomaly detection capabilities, and predictive maintenance functions is driving unprecedented adoption of sensing technologies.