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Welcome to the 12th comic in the Boil's Laws comic strip series, brought to ChEnected by artist and chemical engineer Rich Byrnes.
You can see a or the first in the series here. Read about the inspiration behind Boil's Laws here. Read all the comics here.
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MUST SEE: This comic was inspired by real-life events described by Peter Lodal in this video at 6:06. In this post you will also see photos of balloons descending on a chemical plant.
Comments
Though I am sure your example happens more often than is expected, my typical experience is with assumptions during troubleshooting. If a unit is not performing properly and I ask if an instrument has been checked the response could be - "why would we check that? There is a reading on the screen" As if this was some guarantee that it is accurate. Was it calibrated? When? Was it prepared properly for operations? And so on. Simply incredible that a number on the computer screen could be incorrect.
Robert, I agree we all tend to become "mesmerized" by technology, we assume if a computer (DCS/PLC) with digital inputs/outputs, is communicating with sophisticated instruments over a bus network, then the numbers must simply just be right. This reminds me of when the internet was first breaking on the scene for us in the general public (did I just date myself?), folks would often insist a story or item was indeed factual since they found the information on the Internet, believing that the technology by which the information was delivered somehow made it more authentic. There is a nice thread on the AIChE Linkedin Group discussing Process Safety and where should Automation Stop. This thread speaks towards your point. Thanks for the post, and your interest in Boil's Laws. Rich