Automation and Process Control Standards Used by Chemical Engineers

Knowing relevant automation standards can help process engineers better comply with regulations and follow best practices pertaining to essential plant efforts such as safety, security, and documentation.

A key responsibility for most chemical engineers in industry is supporting the instrumentation and control of manufacturing processes. The required education usually begins with a process control course in the undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum. It then continues through on-the-job learning, internship and/or co-op experiences, mentoring, use of reference books, and attending conferences and short courses.

Another key resource for chemical engineers consists of standards that have been developed and published by the International Society of Automation (ISA). Most of these standards have been subsequently adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as American National Standards (ANS) and by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). These standards and their supporting technical reports set forth key requirements and best practices for the monitoring and control of industrial plants. It is essential that process engineers and other plant automation professionals are familiar with these standards, as well as other valuable references such as the U.S. National Electrical Code (NEC), developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the ISA’s Guide to the Automation Body of Knowledge (1).

This article summarizes eight important plant automation topics covered in ANS as developed by ISA, most of which have been adopted by the IEC. Chemical engineers involved in the development and/or support of chemical processes must be familiar with these standards, as they help with interpreting and understanding process documentation (e.g., piping and instrumentation diagrams [P&IDs]). These standards also provide requirements and best practices for dealing with abnormal and hazardous situations, interfacing with computers (e.g., manufacturing execution systems), developing effective human-machine interfaces (HMIs) for operators, providing safe and secure operating environments, and organizing batch process control software.

In general, requirements and best practices for an automation topic are contained in the topic’s standard. In most cases, the standard is supported by published technical reports, which are separate documents that address the “how, why, and where” of a topic. These documents often include many examples of how the topic might be used by engineers to better inform on-the-job decisions...