ENGLISH FOR INSTRUMENT TECHNICIANS

Instrument Identification Tags

Each instrument within an instrumented facility should have its own unique identifying tag
consisting of a series of letters describing that instrument’s function, as well as a number
identifying the particular loop it belongs to. An optional numerical prefix typically
designates the larger area of the facility in which the loop resides, and an optional
alphabetical suffix designates multiple instances of instruments within one loop.
For example, if we were to see an instrument bearing the tag FC-135, we would know it
was a flow controller (FC) for loop number 135. In a large manufacturing facility with
multiple processing “unit” areas, a tag such as this might be preceded by another number
designating the unit area. For example, our hypothetical flow controller might be labelled
12-FC-135 (flow controller for loop #135, located in unit #12). If this loop happened to
contain multiple controllers, we would need to distinguish them from each other by the
use of suffix letters appended to the loop number (e.g. 12-FC-135A, 12-FC-135B, 12-FC-
135C).
Each and every instrument within a particular loop is first defined by the variable that loop
seeks to sense or control, regardless of the physical construction of the instrument itself.
Our hypothetical flow controller FC-135, for example, may be physically identical to the
level controller in loop #72 (LC-72), or to the temperature controller in loop #288 (TC-
288). What makes FC-135 a flow controller is the fact that the transmitter sensing the
main process variable measures flow. Likewise, the identifying tag for every other
instrument within that loop239 must begin with the letter “F” as well. This includes the
final control element as well: in a level control loop, the transmitter is identified as an “LT”
even if the actual sensing element works on pressure (because the variable that the loop
strives to sense or control is actually level, despite the fact that liquid level is being
inferred from pressure), the controller is identified as an “LC”, and the control valve
throttling fluid flow is identified as an “LV”: every instrument in that level-controlling loop
serves to help control level, and so its primary function is to be a “level” instrument.
Valid letters recognized by the ISA for defining the primary process variable of an
instrument within a loop are shown in the following table. Please note that the use of a
modifier defines a unique variable: for example, a “PT” is a transmitter
measuring pressure at a single point in a process, whereas a “PDT” is a transmitter
measuring a pressure difference between two points in a process. Likewise, a “TC” is a
controller controlling temperature, whereas a “TKC” is a controller controlling the rate-of-
change of temperature

Example of Instrument Tag Letters

Some examples of instrument tag letters are shown in the following list:

 AIT = Analytical Indicating Transmitter (e.g. an oxygen concentration analyser with a

built-in display of oxygen percentage)
 ESL = Voltage Switch, Low (e.g. a switch used to detect an under-voltage condition in
an electrical power system)
 FFI = Flow Ratio Indicator (e.g. a device indicating the ratio between air and fuel for
a large industrial engine)
 FIC = Flow Indicating Controller (i.e. a controller designed to indicate flow to a human
operator)
 HC = Hand Controller (i.e. a device allowing a human operator to set a control signal
to some desired level, usually to operate a valve or other final control element)
 JQR = Power Totalizing Recorder (e.g. a watt-hour recorder, tracking total energy
used)
 LSHH = Level Switch, High-High (e.g. a level-sensing switch designed to detect a
dangerously high liquid level and initiate an automatic shutdown in that event)
 LT = Level Transmitter (i.e. a device sensing liquid level and reporting that level in
some analog or digital form)
 PIT = Pressure Indicating Transmitter (e.g. a Rosemount model 3051 pressure
transmitter with a built-in display of measured pressure)
 PDT = Pressure Differential Transmitter (i.e. a pressure transmitter built and installed
to sense the difference of pressure between two points in a fluid system)
 PV = Pressure Valve (i.e. a control valve installed in a loop where the process
variable is pressure)
 TE = Temperature Element (i.e. a sensing element used to directly detect the
temperature of a process material; e.g. a thermocouple, thermistor, filled-bulb,
bimetallic spring)
 TKAH = Temperature Rate-of-change Alarm, High (i.e. a device alarming when the
rate of temperature change exceeds a pre-set limit)
 TV = Temperature Valve (i.e. a control valve installed in a loop where the process
variable is temperature)
 TY = Temperature Converter (e.g. an I/P transducer in a temperature loop)
 VSH = Vibration Switch, High (i.e. a switch used to detect a high level of vibration on
a piece of machinery)
 ZXI, ZYI, and ZZI = Position Indicators for X, Y, and Z axes respectively (e.g.
indicators showing the three axis positions for a CNC machine tool)