Skip to main content

About

I'm Aamir Malik, and I've spent close to 25 years working hands-on in industrial instrumentation — most of it in cement manufacturing, including time on international projects. I currently lead the Instrumentation & Control team at a cement plant, where I deal daily with the same DP transmitters, PLCs, control valves, and flow meters I write about here.

This blog started as a way to document what actually happens in the field — not the textbook version, but the version where an impulse line is blocked, a plate's been installed backward, or a PLC card is throwing a transient fault nobody can explain. Over the years it's grown into a reference for fellow instrumentation professionals, technicians, and engineers who want practical, tested troubleshooting knowledge rather than generic theory.

Everything here is written from direct plant experience. If it's on this blog, it's because I've either dealt with it myself or worked through it with my team.

Topics you'll find here include flow, level, pressure, and temperature measurement; control valves and actuators; PLC and DCS troubleshooting; gas analyzers; and general fault-tracing procedures for cement and process plants.

Feel free to browse, and if something here helps you solve a problem on your own plant, that's exactly why I write it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Capacitive Level Sensors

Capacitive Type Level Sensors Capacitive type level switches and transmitters are widely used in industrial level measurements. The capacitor is made up of two plates and isolated by some isolators having a fixed dielectric constant. But in level measurement we use a variable capacitor, capacitance can be changed by changing the gap between the two plates or by changing the dielectric constant, so dielectric constant changes and proportional to that capacitance also changes. Capacitive level switches  Capacitive level switches are used in industrial applications for the point-level sensor to detect a high or low level of a vessel or tank. Working principle of capacitive level switch  In capacitance type level switches, there are two main units: 1. Capacitive probe 2. controller  The capacitive probe is made up of two plates mostly in the shape of two rods. and the material we want to sense acts as a gap between the plates.  As material touches, the sensor probe, the...

Radar level measurement

 Radar Level  Radar level transmitter are used to measure level in industrial applications. Radar level measurement method is an advanced method. In radar level transmitter time of flight method is used to measure the level. By calculating this time of flight we measure the level of liquid or solids.  RADAR level have a transmitter which transmit microwave or radar waves after colliding with material they return back to the receiver.  The time from the transmitter to the echo return to the receiver, is calculated, which is proportional to the level. This time is calculated by the formula:  Distance = (Speed of light x time delay) / 2 This calculation is done by a built in microprocessor and the level is displayed on screen or lcd, a signal proportional to level in 4 to 20 mA is output of level transmitter , this standard current signal of 4 to 20 mA is for plc or dcs. Time of Flight technology  Time of flight technology is used in  devices that are mu...

Solenoid operated valve

Solenoid valve A solenoid valve or SOV is an electro mechanically operated valve.  This is controlled by an electric current through a solenoid coil, a magnetic field is produced in the electrical coil which mechanically operates the plunger of the valve and hence changes the path of air or fluid from one direction to another direction. Types of solenoid valve: 2/2-way solenoid valve This type of valve has 2 ports and it acts in  2 positions.  It means the solenoid valve has two ports one is the inlet port and another port is the outlet port, material passing through the solenoid valve either pneumatic or fluid is applied to the inlet port and exhausted through the outlet port. Two-position of solenoid valve means that its piston or plunger has two-position, either valve is open or close. 3/2-way solenoid valve  This type of valve has 3 ports and 2 acting positions. 5/2 way solenoid valve  This type of valve has 5 ports and 2 positions. Types of a solenoid valv...