Top 5 Control Engineering articles, May 18-24: Salary and career survey, BP Texas City, PC-based control, more

Articles about the Control Engineering salary and career survey, BP Texas City 10 years later, PC-based control, flared-gas powered Pykrete, and pipeline physical and cyber security were Control Engineering’s five most clicked articles from last week, May 18-24. Miss something? You can catch up here.

By Chris Vavra May 25, 2015

Control Engineering Top 5 most read articles online, for May 18-24, covered Control Engineering salary and career survey, BP Texas City 10 years later, PC-based control, flared-gas powered Pykrete, and pipeline physical and cyber security. 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. 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. 

3. PC-based control helps KVAL door production machines

KVAL Inc. used PC-based control, servo drives with one cable, and EtherCAT industrial Ethernet for communications to reduce the wired-to-running time of door assembly machinery from 2 to 4 days without testing for two people to less than 1 day with testing for one person. 

4. Flared-gas powered Pykrete can protect offshore rigs

Gas flaring is a waste of energy and by taking flared gas and redirecting it, it can be used to power a pykrete barrier for offshore rigs that can contain spills and protect the rigs from harsh weather and even pirates. 

5. Ensuring pipeline physical and cyber security

Production of oil and natural gas in the U.S. and Canada is increasing. The vast majority of these hydrocarbons will be shipped across the continent via a dense network of pipelines. The integrity of this network, however, is threatened, not only by mechanical failures, but also by targeted cyber attacks. 

The list was developed using CFE Media’s web analytics for stories viewed on controleng.com, May 18-24, for articles published within the last two months.

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