Evaluating sensors for system migration

摘要

The goal of every system migration is a relatively easy, low-risk, and cost-effective transition from a legacy system to a new system that immediately and dramatically improves plant performance. Many equipment makers promise easy-as-pie "plug in" migration modules that require no replacement of existing field wiring, termination assemblies, system enclosures, or power supplies and cut migration downtime from weeks and months to "a day or less." The reality is a bit different. Upgrading a system to advanced enterprise control computers and software without evaluating the performance of the sensors that supply these systems with data is an exercise in futility. To properly sense and communicate the parameters of a process parameter, sensors must be accurate. Accuracy means how well a sensor measures the value of a process parameter. To display data with the frequency required by the plant or industry regulations, sensors must be reasonably fast in revealing a sudden change in the value of a process parameter. Accuracy and response time are independent of each other for the most part.