Top 10 Control Engineering articles, December 12 to January 11: SI Giants, flow measurement challenges, more

Articles about the 2015 System Integrator Giants, overcoming flow measurement challenges, choosing between a PLC and DCS, and heat exchanger control strategies were Control Engineering’s five most clicked articles from December 12 to January 11. Miss something? You can catch up here. Also see what ranked 6-10.

By Chris Vavra January 12, 2016

The top 5 most read articles online, for Dec. 12 to Jan. 11 for Control Engineering covered intelligent PLC programming, the 2015 System Integrator Giants, overcoming flow measurement challenges, choosing between a PLC and DCS, and heat exchanger control strategies. Link to each article below. Also see what ranked 6-10 over the past month. 

1. 2015 System Integrator Giants

The System Integrator Giants program (SI Giants) lists the top 100 system integrators among companies listed in the CFE Media Global System Integrator Database, ranked solely on total system integration revenue.

3. Overcoming flow measurement challenges

Matching the flowmeter to the application can help engineers overcome flow measurement issues. Magnetic, vortex, and differential pressure (dP) flowmeters are the leading technologies used to measure volumetric flow or flow velocity. Know when to use each.

4. Six steps to choose between PLC and DCS for process industries

Learn how to choose between PLC and DCS. Though PLC and DCS technologies were invented to serve different industrial processes, the last 15 years have seen a massive merger of functionalities between both worlds.

5. Applying heat exchanger control strategies

Integrating control schemes, such as feedback, cascade, and feedforward techniques, can satisfy the control requirements of even highly challenging heat exchanger temperature control applications.

More popular stories on Control Engineering

As an online-only feature, we’re featuring the stories that finished 6-10 over the past month.

6. Fixing PID, Part 3

PID: Proportional-integral-derivative controllers may be ubiquitous, but they’re not perfect. Consider how deadtime affects integral action.

7. System Integrators of the Year: The future is today for 2016 winners

The System Integrators of the Year combine technology with a customer-centric approach. See roundtable video discussion.

8. PLC vs. PAC vs. IPCs

Know the features, limits, and compatibilities to select the right controller: programmable logic controller (PLC), programmable automation controller (PAC), or industrial PC (IPC).

9. How to deploy smart HMIs as communication hubs 

Smart human-machine interfaces (HMIs) can securely tie servers, controllers, and input/output (I/O) devices together, inside and outside the plant. There are many differences between embedded and PC-based HMIs and it is important to know them to find the right fit for a particular system. 

10. How to rank controllers

With the growing number of controller choices available to automation engineers, separating the chaff to find the best device for a particular application can be difficult.

The list was developed using CFE Media’s web analytics for stories viewed on controleng.com, December 12 to January 11, for articles published within the last two months.  

– Chris Vavra, production editor, CFE Media, cvavra@cfemedia.com.

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Author Bio: Chris Vavra is web content manager for CFE Media and Technology.