Top 5 Control Engineering articles, May 12 to June 11: Salary and career survey, dual split-range control strategy, BP Texas City, more

Articles about the 2015 Control Engineering salary and career survey, a dual split-range control strategy, BP Texas City 10 years later, 7 benefits of HMI-historian integration, and energy-efficient machine best practices were Control Engineering’s five most clicked articles from last week, May 12 to June 11. Miss something? You can catch up here.

By Chris Vavra June 11, 2015

Control Engineering Top 5 most read articles online, for May 12 to Jun. 11, covered the 2015 Control Engineering salary and career survey, a dual split-range control strategy, BP Texas City 10 years later, 7 benefits of HMI-historian integration, and energy-efficient machine best practices were Control Engineering’s five most clicked articles from last week, May 12 to June 11. Link to each article below.

1. Control Engineering salary and career survey, 2015

Control Engineering research: While slightly less is expected for salary and significantly more for bonuses in 2015 compared to 2014, concerns about shortages of skilled workers remained highest on the list of challenges. 

2. A dual split-range control strategy for pressure and flow processes

Maintaining setpoint for two-mode or wide-range operations can be much easier when there are two control devices. Split-range control has been widely used in industrial processes for controlling pressure, temperature, and flow. See diagrams.

3. 10 years later: BP Texas City and the inevitable cost of an incident

This unfortunate incident from 2005 is familiar to many working in process industries and especially in the U.S., where an extensive investigation and its associated report have been used to illustrate the importance of process safety management.

4. 7 benefits of integrating human-machine interfaces, historians

Human-machine interfaces (HMIs) and historians differ but need to be tightly integrated to provide company operations with optimal value. Big data has little value without analysis and access in real time. 

5. Best practices for energy-efficient machines

Machine control designs are changing to integrate best practices in energy management. These steps include measurement and monitoring of energy use and control and optimization to minimize energy consumption. 

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

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

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