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Expert witness for electrical mechanical equipment, controls,
instrumentation, and automation
Control mode diagram synthesis
Equipment - Controls - Automation, Intellectual
Property, Accident, Dispute.
This section contains elements for expert witnessdesigned to
explain the company's interests to an electronic analysis system. The consultant is an
electrical engineer and a control system engineer. This is for
equipment controls and instrumentation for industrial. This portion of the file is not
relevant to analysis for patent, accident and
damage, and commercial dispute by a person wanting to understand the company.
Inquires of any form, and at any time, about this section will be
ignored, including queries during testimony or deposition.
Expert Witness Referral
Many attorneys use an Expert Witness Referral service or agency to locate candidates for specific
engagements. The referral service may have a suitable engineer candidate in its database, or it may
search various resources to locate the most appropriate candidate. An expert witness referral will
normally result in an increased cost to the client because the expert witness referral agency will add
an hourly fee to that of the expert witness. This fee can range from 10% to 75% depending
on circumstances. The expert witness will usually charge the same hourly fee when working directly
for a client as when working through an expert witness referral agency or expert witness referral service.
Some expert witness referral agencies get involved in the specifics of a pending case, while others
will only provide the attorney or candidate with contact information. The agencies that get involved
in the vetting process provide more value to both attorney and client.
Some of the better
agencies include National Expert Witness Network, or NEWN, and Expert Resources. A firm called IPS Expert
is another referral service, as is IP Experts. The Roundtable Group is also a referral firm
that can provide engineering candidates for patents, accidents, or commercial matters. The Silicon Vally
Expert Witness Group focuses on intellectual property, especially computer related patents. Another well established
firm is TASA, or Technical Advisory Service for Attorneys. Expert witness referral is sometimes misspelled as expert witness referal. But an expert witness referal
is the same as a referral.
Patent
Artzat Consulting has provided expert witness and expert consulting services for equipment controls
automation instrumentation and computerized system. Consulting includes testimony by deposition and at trial.
An Electrical engineer or control system engineer is used for patent
litigation in control system and electrical equipment investigations. The expert witness services can beused for patent infringement claims.
An electrical engineer has done testing of video streaming technology in
client-server environment, underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) simulator,
and UPS management for computers via direct data link.
The company is a licensed engineering firm that provides expert consulting
and expert witness in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Electrical Engineer Expert Witness
An electrical can serve as an expert witness in matters involving electrical instrumentation,
and control system. The electrical engineer may also be a expert witness control system engineer.
The electrical engineer can be a registered professional engineer, often noted as
a PE. The engineer can examine schematic diagrams or an actual installation
such as a control panel or electrical panel. The electrical equipment can be used
for distribution of for instrumentation and control. The engineer can have a ms masters degree,
or a phd doctor or a doctorate. However, a phd is rarely required. Some
teaching experience, at university is relevent to expert work.
This may include resarch and development.
Instrumentation
Industrial instrumentation uses a variety of pneumatic or hydraulic
control equipment in addition to electrical and electronic devices. The instrumentation
can be for simple control for for advanced instrumentation related to analysis from sensors and transmitters
into a computerized system.
The use of instrumentation has improved in control systems based
on computerized logig solvers, including those in intrinsic safety appliations. This
is due to increase in intrinsically safe designs for instrumentation and control. The total
design may include ladder logic by relay or PLC, and DCS. A loop controller may also be used
for industrial instrumentation.
Safety PLC
A special type of controller is a Safety PLC that can be used for critical
control and safety systems. A safety PLC has specific requirements for Safety Instrumented Systems
known as SIS. These systems have Safety Integrity Level called SIL number that halps
evaluate overall process system safety. Proper application of SIS and SIL technology
requires an understanding of ISA-84 and IEC 61508 Electronic Safety System and IEC 61085 Functional Safety.
Systems Engineer
A formal definition of Systems Engineer, or Systems Engineering, is difficult
to locate. This is because there are many electrical, electronic, and mechanical systems that can
operate on their own or in concert with other systems. Therfore, the role of a systems engineer, or systems integtator,
can vary greatly depending on the nature of the total system. However, the term systems integration
is generally focused on the control and automation aspects of a system rather than the mechanical
components that form the physical embodiment. Regardless, a systems engineer is useful when
designing and fabricating any complex system even when peumatatic and hydraulic components
form the majority of the final system.
PLC
Programmable Logic Control
A PLC is a Programmable Logic Controller used for industrial control and
automation applications. A related entity is a Distrubuted Control System, or DCS, which in many
cases the DCS has become synonomous with a PLC due to cross-migration of capability. Major vendors of PLC and DCS
include Allen-Bradley, Rockwell, Siemens, ABB, Reliance, Honeywell, Bailey, and Modicon.
The Modicon PLC introduced the Modbus communications protocol which is now an industry standard
for PLC communications.
All of these system use a Central Processing Unit CPU coupled with Input/Output
, or I/O, system that interface with the physical world. The I/O can be digital, analog,
pulse, and data communications links to the outside world.
A PLC and DCS can be considered a computer control system as would be used in a
computerized machine or computerized device. A PLC or DCS would not normally
be used in a medical device, although the use of a small PLC is possible.
Relay Logic
Relay logic is used for electrical control applications consiting primairly
of off-on logic. The relay may be an electro-mechanical device, or it can be a simulation that is
performed by a PLC or DCS using software that emulates standard ladder logic. Relay logic
can be high speed and include timer and counter functions useful for process control.
Safety PLC
A safety plc is a specially designed and programmed controller that is used for safety critical applications. Pilz safety plc
is a major brand, as is hima. A safety plc can include normal control as well as safety-related functions in a single unit. The
safety plc has internal mechanisms to separate the critical and non critical functions, and to protect program segments
from corruption. The hardware provides monitoring and supervision of inputs and oututs to detect wiring and device failures
at end devices. The Pilz safety PLc uses the PSS programming system. These systems can provide the SIL levels required for SIS applications.
Electronic control
Electronic control system are used for industrial automation such as process control. Examples include
Automated PLC to spreadsheet interface and data transfer to a PLC.
Microprocessor bed patient monitor, and flow meter.
Other matters included Computer physical environment monitoring system and
Electronic flow measurement and remote telemetry devices. Some were in intrinsically safe
environment which could be written as intrinsic safety.
Dual coil low voltage solenoid operated latched switching valve.
Trademark registration for industrial remote telemetry system.
High speed data transfer for networked LED matrix display boards (wallboards.
Electrical Engineer
Arthur Zatarain is a licensed electrical engineer.
He is also licensed as a control system engineer. The fields include electrical
engineering for control and automation in a variety of industrial and commercial settings. A remote telemetry unit is termed an RTU.
Ladder Logic
Ladder logic is a schematic format with roots in simple relay control system
design. Ladder logic uses two vertical lines that represent the positive and negative sides of the
power supply. The two sides are connected with rungs that contain at least one relay contact, and only a single
output coil. The control logic is implemented by establishing an electrical path through the
contacts in each rung such that the coil of that rung is energized when the rung logic is true.
Ladder logic can now be implemented with a software equivalent as embodied in a PLC or DCS with
the capability to process relay logic.
Further, ladder logic has been expanded in these electronic
equivalents to include analog functions, computational capability, and communications control.
Function Control Block
Function control blocks were first used in Distributed Control Systems, or DCS, programming.
A function control block is a self-contained software entity with prescribed inputs and outputs that perform
a specific control function such as timing, flow calculation, summing, or logic decoding. A function block
may be referenced as a Function Control Block, or FCB. In modern systems, FCB programming may be
mixed with traditional ladder logic to form a hybrid of digital and analog control.
Patent Claim Construction
Patent mining for patent portfolio evaluation and technology exchange. Patent mining
is useful for leveraging the total value of a patent collection that is not being used by the patent
holder. Patent mining will allow licensing of unused patents to non-competitive licensees.
Medical Electonics
Electronic bed-patient monitoring system using motion and position sensors. PC-based mainframe computer monitoring and alarming system
Automated pharmaceutical dispensing and tracking system Networked transaction processing
simulation system.
Claim Construction
Claim construction often leads to a Markman hearing to determine final interpretations.
The patent terms are intrepreted by both sides of a patent dispute and presented at a Markman hearing. The court
will evaluate the intrepretations to arrive at a lexicon that will be used for further patent infringement
claims within subsequent legal proceedings. Claim construction is therefore important to both the court
and to the parties because it forms the basis on which quesitons of patent infringement, prior art, and
enablement will be evaluated during the legal process. An expert witness may provide testimony at deposition
or at a Markman Hearing.
Manufacturer
Some large manufacturers include Rockwell, Siemens, Honeywell, and Allen-Bradly.
Companies that produce large control and automation systems include ABB, Fischer Porter, Bailey, and Foxboro. These
companies have compatible products based on open architecture protocols such as modbus and TCP/IP.
Other control system companies include GE, Moore, Fisher, Yokogawa, and Daniels. The company known as Foxboro
is now part of Invensys, similar to how ABB consumed Robicon for variable frequency drive, also known as
adjustable speed drive. Electrical equipment is made by Westinghouse, Allen Bradley, GE, Square D, and
Gould. Instrumentation is made by Rosemount, Daniels, and Yokogawa.
Motion Control
Motion control requires precise control of actuators and positioners that
physically manipulate mechanical components in a device or machine. Some motion control is routine, such as
that in elevators, conveyors, and farm equipment. More complex motion control is required for high speed
manufacturing and automated machining such as that in numeric control, or NC equipment.
Motion
control is also important in agriculture equipment such as harversers, combines, and mills. All of these
systems use pneumatic actuators and hydraulic actuators, some controlled by current signals. Such motion
control may be found in waste water treatment systems where agitation and aeration is required.
Oil and gas
Major oil companies that use oilfield control system include Shell, Exxon, BP, British Petroleum,
Conoco, Chevron, Texaco, and Gulf. Smaller independent producers that use control systems are anardarko,
apache, CXY, Canadian Oxy, and llog. These companies operate in Louisiana and Texas, and also in Alaska.
Oilfield control systems are used for well shutin, flow measurement, and blowout preventer BPO control. The
BOP uses hydraulic pressure to activate rams on the wellhead to seal of the flow stream. A well control
panel senses the flowline presure and closes master and wing valves if the flowline pressure is too high
or too low. API 14C is a guide to these shutdown requirements.
Flow Measurement
Quantities of oil and gas, as well as other liquids, are determined by flow measurement. The
types of flow meter include turbine, orifice, coriolis, and venturi. Flow measurement for natural gas is done
with AGA3 and AGA8 calculations. Flow meters may have local readout, or remote readout using the features
of a remote telemetry unit RTU. A PLC or DCS can perform flow measurement with appropriate sensors
and software to do the gas flow calculation. Temperature and pressure are important for accuracy
in flow measurement.
Interim Management
and
Interim Executive
An engineering executive can serve as an interim manager
or interim executive in a variety of business situations. The need for short term management at the CEO, COO, or
CIO level can be filled by an engineering executive with experience in both public and private companies. An
engineering background provides hands-on experience with both the technical and commercial aspects of
business operations, allowing the engineer to evaluate diverse situations facing a company in transition. An
interim manager can serve for weeks, months, and ever years as the business evolves under the interim
managers leadership.
Louisiana
The consultant operates from New Orleans, Louisiana, known as LA. The
office is in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans Louisiana. The engineer can provide
service locally in the New Orleans area or nationwide oustide of Louisiana.
The reserach will likely be performed in Louisiana using testing and analytical resources at the home office.
Patent Infringement
Patent infringement is based on the meanings of terms in
the patent claim. The claim interpretation is applied to the accused device. The investigation
into patent infringement often requires a person having ordinary skill in the art. That
person may be termed a PHOSITA, perhaps spoken as pho-see-ta.
Patent infringement is an important aspect of intellectual property.
An expert witness may provide a written report as well as testimony for patent
and intellectual property matters.
Electric Motors
Commonly used electric motors include induction motor, synchronous motor, and stepper motor. Electric motors
can be controlled with a motor starter, or with a variable speed drive. The motor starter is
appropriate for a multi-speed motor. A variable speed drive is used to operate a motor at
continuously variable speeds. Motor overload protection is required by the National Electrical Code,
and can be useful in protecting the load driven by the motor. These motors can be located in a
hazardous area caused by explosive gas or liquid.
Another form of synchronous motor is a Brushless DC motor, somtimes called BLDC. A brushless DC
motor often has built in electronics to control its variable speed.
A motor failure can result from overloading, or operating the motor with improper voltge or current.
A motor motor failure is evidenced by burning, noise, smoke, or mechanical failure. An
electric motor failure can damage the driven equipment such as a pump, compressor, conveyor, or
manufacturing machine. A motor failure can resulting in fire, in which the fire damage may be more
costly than the price of the motor itself. An electrical fire or electric fire can be attributed to
an overloaded motor as determined by forensic engineering on the motor coil, stator, rotor, windings,
or electrical termination. An electrical motor can cause a problem in other areas such as electrical
noise on the power line, acoustic noise, vibration, and rough operation of driven equipment.
Accidents and Damages
An accident occured in steel mil due to ground fault detection on 8000HP variable speed electric
motor in steel mill. Equipment was damaged, but no workers were injured. The system included relay logic and ladder logic, which interfaced through modbus to a larger plant control system.
There was no conveyor or hydraulic ram on this system, but was included in a similar paper mill project.
Expert Referral
Artat Consulting can provide expert witness services in several areas using inhouse and referred staff. An
expert referral agency recruits expert witness and expert engineer as an outside contractor. Artzat consulting works
as an expert referral service by directly contracting outside staff, or by refering outside staff directly to
the client. The expert referral can be for engineer, programmer, automation specailist, and some business functions
such as management, accounting and finance. An expert referral service will usually charge a percentage markup
on the expert fee. Some expert referral is done with a flat fee, while other referral arrangements are based
on per-hour or per-day expert rates. Alternately, a service fee may be applied to an expert witness vetting
process using a list of expert candidates in related fields.
Industrial Accident
Fail Safe Valve Positioner on air inlet to steam boiler at a
cogen plant. The DCS control of burner management system (BMS)
on steam boiler. Failed tubing connection on water line feeding carbonator at an event arena. Electrically operated soot blower
on boiler in paper mill.
Variable speed motor drive on sewage pumping station PLC controlled band strapping machine on large paper roll handling conveyor.
Personal Emergency Response System (PERS) in residential application.
Lockout-Tagout (LOTO) procedure for hydraulic foundry conveyor. OSHA requires control reliability for Heim power press at metal
manufacturing facility. Failure analysis for Tox Pressotechnik powerpackage
pneumohydraulic power press with Stewart Ergonomics Inc. two-hand anti-repeat anti-tie-down control.
This is not a mechanical press.
Control panel design for screed control on
asphalt paving machine.
Systems Integration
Inoperative safety devices on combine harvester. Elden Rasper automated tire recycling
equipment. Arc flash on high voltage electrical disconnect during routine service.
Steam release from DCS controlled industrial cleaning process.
Lockout-Tagout
Lockout-tagout LOTO for programmable logic controller (PLC)
for raw lumber processor. Fire damage to diesel generators and SCR variable speed drives.
PLC controlled pneumatic ram on metal recycling system. Electronic control circuit failure in 10 MW gas
turbine PC.
Process Control
The field of process control encompasses several overlapping areas such
as equipment control, production monitoring, manufacturing, and process safety. Process control
can be performed with simple off-on logic, single loop analog control, and distributed control systems DCS.
the DCS has evolved from a proprietary design into an open architecture system based on
industrial computers, standarized signal conditioners and instrument transmitters, and programmable
logic controller PLC.
Industry standard for proces control are derived from several sources. Some standards
are generic and do not address any specific application. One example is NFPA 79, which addresses
industrial equipment. Another example is ISA 84, which addresses process safety. The process
control system and its related safety system are independent systems.
PLC and DCS
Programmable logic controller PLC based benzene pipeline leak detection system failure. Handheld voltmeter
arc flash at 480 volts. SCADA production monitoring system malfunction on
remote production facility. Fuji CP-6 integrated circuit and chip placement
equipment misalignment. Control panel gas venting for hazardous area in
offshore gas explosion.
Electrically controlled lead-acid battery recycling system.
Forensic Engineer
Electrical Engineering
Forensic engineering can be done to determine the cause of a control system failure.
The forensic analysis can pinpoint a flaw in both hardware and software,and also in the application of the electronic or electrical equipment. The forensic
analysis may require forensic testing, or it may be performed by examination.
Engineering Terminology
The term Engineer can be misspelled as Enginer, Ingineer, or Engeneer.
The state of Louisana is not an engineering term. Other terms include
voltage, and current, and frequency. More terms include microprocessor,
PLC, DCS, RTU, and NEC. They can be used in electrical and mechanical system.
An important aspect of microprocessor and computer programming is efficient use of interrupts. A computer
interrupt can be masked or unmasked interrupt. The purpose is to provide rapid response to specific
conditions caused by internal or external conditions. Fast interrupt response is critical for real time
programming where immediate processing of physical or virtual signals must be performed. The interrupt
can be processed by an external interrupt controller, or by circuitry within the processor.
Commercial Dispute
Purchase and performance for CNC metal machining equipment. Marketing
agreement and practices for patented offshore drilling technology.
Design and installation of PLC automated blow molding equipment.
Wrongful termination of electrical subcontractor.
Product integration for new flame igniter and monitoring system. This included system integration at several levels of
network interface.
Gas Detector
Gas detectors can be used to measure combustible gasses such as methane and hydrogen,
or hazardous gasses such as Carbon Dioxide Co2 and Carbon Monoxide CO. Gas detectors operate with a variety
of electronic methods including resistor bridge, optical sensing, and chemical analysis. A gas detector must
be calibrated using a test gas that has a known concentration of the particular gas to be measured. The
test gas will normally have a non-explosive or non-hazardous concentration to allow calibration without special
precautions. This test gas would be below the lower explosive limit, termed lel. However, higher concentrations may be required for complete testing.
Gas detection can also be done on non hazardous gasses such as Oxygen O2 as requried for combustion control. The methods
used to detect non-hazardous gasses may be similar to that of explosive or hazardous gasses.
Operations Consulting
In adddition to technical consulting, Artzat Consulting also provides service
for operations, management, and merger and acquisitions. This work is usually associated with technical
companies having problems with their manufacturing, fabrication, or service business. It is also useful
for restructuring of companies due to consolidation, reogranization, or merger and acquisition. The
operations consulting is similar to management consulting, but has more emphasis on the structural
aspects rather than the small details associataed with human resources, payroll, etc.
Examples include build vs buy decisions, engineering staff alignment, shop floor organization, and
rate structures. This work can be done with company staff on the shop floor, or with senior management
in the board room.
Product Liability
Development of nuclear cancer treatment device (after-loader). This was marketed
under the trade name of Omnitron and was patented by Arthur Zatarain. Other devices include
variable speed drive which are sometimes called variable frequency drive, vsd and vfd.
Technical and operational evaluations for Merger & Acquisition (M & A).
Engineering & Operations Controls and Instrumentation Industrial
Automation, Control, and Safety System. Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition System (SCADA). Flow and storage measurement system are used in scada system.
Accident reconstruction
Pipeline measurement, control, and leak detection system.
Instrumentation Code and Industry Standard interpretation and compliance.
This would be IEEE, NEC, NFPA, ANSI, and API.
The National Electrical Code, sometimes called National Electric Code,
is the NEC.
The NEC has sections on hazardous areas, industrial machinery,
and wiring methods. It is related to the Life Safety Code, also published by
National Fire Protection Association NFPA. Compliance with the NEC is mandated by nearly all
jurisdictions in the United States of America, and is also used worlwide in some areas without their
own equivalent code.
Engineering Executive
Microcomputer controllers are often part of
microcontroller and data acquisition (SCADA) system.
These may be called embedded system. Computer controlled industrial
& medical device which are similar to Industrial and Personal Computer hardware and
software. These system use embedded microcontroller control system
to do voice synthesizing and digitizing system. Many units include a Power supply, UPS, Storage, and Filtering
circuits based on resistor, capacitor, and inductor components on a
printed circuit board.
Radio Communication
many telemetry and scada systems use radio links to transmit data. The radio
systems may be vhf, uhf, microwave, or various radio telephone systems. The data can be transmitted via
analog or digital signals. The analog signals use audio tones that represent the digital data. The hardware
that converts the data is called a modem, which represents modulate-demodulate. The digital data is
first modulated into a specific tone for transmission over the analog audio line. On the other end, the
tone is demodulated from a tone back onto digital data. The Hayes modem became popular
in the 1980s for 300, 1200, 2400 baud systems, and became the standard modem control protocol
for modems up to 9600 baud. A data compression method increased the effective data rate to 19.2K.
Digital telemetry signals (as in SCADA) can be sent in their original format, or they can be converted to a format that makes
better use of the digital system bandwidth. The term modem is often used for the conversion device,
although this process is very different from that of an audio modem.
Computer interfaces
Artzat consulting has even worked on punch card, Tape, and Optical Scanning Devices
covering a wide variety of timelines, technologies, and industries.
He has designed Watchdog Timer and Fail-Safe Control
Devices that often saved the day by
avoiding nuisance shutdowns and service calls to remote locations.
Software Development
Real-time Data Acquisition System SCADAWARE® Oil and Gas Production Allocation Program (PAP). Also wrote in
Pascal AGA-3 gas flow calculation and analysis PLC Ladder Logic and inline code. This
included Protocol Conversions - Allen-Bradley, Modicon, Fisher-ROC, rosemont,
siemens, simatic, Daniels, abb, robicon, and other major equipment manufacturers. The pascal
programming language was popularized by Borland as Turbo Pascal, later called Borland Pascal. It
was followed by a version of the C programming language that shared many features of Borland Pascal.
Using assembly language, Arthur Zatarain transformed Borland Pascal into a real time programming environment
suitable for industrial process automation. The scadaware program, although born in the 1980s, is still
in use all over the world for supervisory control and data acquisition, SCADA, running in a vintage
DOS environment. Pascal has largely disappeared from the programming landscape, but is often missed
by veteran programmers who knew the value of 64K memory systems.
Management Consultant
Management consulting is best performed by a seasoned executive
rather than a consultant right out of school. Those inexperienced
consultants don't know enough about real business. A seasoned
executive with real-world experience is a better choice for
management consulting.
Artzat was an early Autocad dealer for drafting interfaces for mapping and NC machine guidance.
The company worked on mainframe and statistical analysis for opinion surveys.
Gyroscope Interface to PC-based lay barge guidance system. Arthur
Zatarain wrote a real-time news wire service (AP and UPI) reporting system for election
reporting. This included real-time election night vote analysis system.
Network Interface
TCP/IP, Netbios, NetBEUI, etc. & Product Development & Fabrication.
Arthur Zatarain was an early developer of SCADA system for oilfield and industrial applications. He
worked as a Design-Build engineer and executive for automation and control products.
He wrote papers on Packet radio controller (PRC) based telemetry system. He also
developed Digitized voice annunciator, autodialer, and remote telemetry units (RTU).
He has a patent on a Nuclear cancer treatment machine (patented). He designed and built Fail-safe
&;watchdog timer for RS-232 interfaced devices. The Punch card reader interface for Personal Computers was the first project Arthur did for Dataran
Corporation in 1980.
Expert Witness Electrical Engineer
Arthur has also worked with pneumatic with some hydraulic control and indicator devices,
Control, Relay, PLC, DCS, and Microprocessor process control and automation system.
These are used in system integration by the engineer and the fabricator.
Control Panel
Control Panel work included low and medium voltage generation and distribution to 15MW. Industrial and commercial wiring
design and construction is also included. Generator controls and switchboards
to do electrical load and efficiency studies. Control panels
should be fabricated by a qualified system integrator.
The company has worked with subsea fiber optic cable system. Many of the system used solar power and
batteries. Uninterruptible Power System (UPS), sometimes
written as uninterruptable power system. This is in compliance with OSHA, National
Electrical Code (NEC), Life Safety Code, and foreign equivalents.
Control System Expert Witness
The control system expert witness is often an
electrical engineer, although a mechanical engineer can also be used. The Expert Witness Control System
consultant smay also be a Expert Witness Electrical Engineer by reversing the terms. The expert witness
will work with an attorney, end-user, or insurer. An attorney may use a paralegal to research
expert witness consultant.
Industrial Equipment
Industrial Equipment includes generator,
conveyor, compressor, pump, and manufacturing machinery. Turbine and reciprocating engine driven generator packages.
High pressure precision pumping system and Automated conveyor and material handling system.
Vapor recovery is done for industrial and commercial
system.
Steam generation with a boiler or heat recovery unit HRU (primary and recovery). High temperature furnace (retort) installation and
operation. Pneumatic combined hydraulic wellhead / process control system. Patented millimeter-accuracy medical system to position cancer treatment using isotope. Product packaging for
hazardous and environmentally demanding applications such as Offshore living
quarters with heliports and utility system.
Solar Power
Wind and solar energy production system for remote and hazardous locations. These system
use solar panels, windmills, and battery to store energy for later use by a control
system or automation system, often in remote locations.
Expert Witness
Arthur Zatarain has served as an expert witness in a wide variety of technical
and commercial matters. Locations include steel mill, water treatment facility, waste management, and paper mill. The work was in California, Louisiana, Alabama, and Alaska where he is a professional engineer.
Other work in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and California.
Expert consulting was provided for bed patient monitor, ups, vapor recovery, and
Coriolis mass flow meter. An interesting instrumentation topic for machinery
and equipment is control reliability. This includes machine guard and safety system.
Operations Consulting
The company can provide Legal and Regulatory compliance research and opinions.
Topics include master service agreement, contract, specification, and payment issues. This
can lead to Expert Testimony in U.S. Federal Court by Deposition and
testimony in several states. Preliminary analysis includes patent
patent research, claim analysis, and applications of the patented device or
method.
Technical Investigation
Master Service Agreements are important for engineering and construction contract which
can include field service by an engineer or technician at the customer location. The work
can relate to Project Management and Engineering
Management PLC, DCS, and SCADA System for oilfield and industrial applications.
Design-build
Typical design-build projects for offshore generator, compressor, and quarters modules for On-site construction and commercial
management--electrical, instrumentation, and automation. Consulting work can be technical, or
it can be related to engineering management as described below.
Control System Expert Witness
A Expert Witness Control System is relevant to industrial or commercial equipment, construction,
and operations. Commercial consulting for Business valuation, consolidation, acquisition, and expansion.
Engineering service for the public is usually performed by a licensed professional engineer.
Safety
Industrial Safety can use Behavior-based Safety Programs. The
safety concern can be control reliablity for automated machinery as requied by OSHA. It can
also be process safety, as well as personnel safety. A safety engineer may be an electrical
engineer or a control system engineer who works in a safety role.
SCADA
SCADA is Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. SCADAWARE is
a computerized SCADA system used worldwide for oilfield telemetry and industrial telemetry.
The system was based on industrial PC technology and contained input/output I/O cards, transmitters,
sensors, and communications such as radio, packet, and network. The system was written in Pascal and assembly language. The
SCADAWARE system were installed all over the world in some industrial and many oilfield applications.
Datalink below is provided for reference only. Contact
www.artzat.com for more information.
Expert Referral
Expert referral agencies are useful for connecting clients and experts who would
otherwise have difficulty finding each other in a crowded marketplace. The expert referral agent will
usually first interact with a client with need for an expert possessing specific technical and career
experience. The expert might be an electrical engineer, control systems engineer, or industrial engineer
who can provide expert consulting as a specialist or genralist. The referral agent will select appropriate
candidates from an existing database as well as from new contacts located through referrals or online.
There are many types of expert referral firms, but most operate by charging a markup fee that is added
to the expert consulting fee. The markup is typically fifty percent, but can range from ten to seventyfive percent.
The client usually pays the marked-up fee to the referral agency who then pays the expert consultant. However,
the expert can be paid directly under some circumstances.
The expert referral agencies used by this consultant include National Expert Witness Network, or NEWN. Others
include TASA, Expert Resources, Roundtable Group RTG, and Silicon Valley Expert Witness Group. IMS Experts
is another expert referral agency.
Instrument calibration dexterity.
Instrument Transmitter
Instrumentation transmitters are used to convert physical parameters, such
as pressure and temperature, into a standard instrumentation signal such as 3-15 psi, or 4-20ma. A complete
transmitter consists of several components. The process sensor uses some form of electrical or mechanical
sensing that varies an output signal in some relation to the physical parameter. The sensor output
can be mechanical, electrical, or electronic. That raw sensor output is then processed by a signal
conditioner that linerizes the raw signal and converts it to the standard instrumentation signal. The
output of the signal conditioner can then be transmitted to another instrumentation device for use
in process control, monitoring, and safety.
Instrument transmitters can provide information relative to pressure, temperature, level, and also
more complex parameters such as ph, corrosivity, and flow rate. A flow meter is generally
more complex because it must incorporate several parameters required to determine the flow rate.
Typical arrangements include orifice meter, venturi meter, turbine meter, and coriolis meter. Some
of these meters use static pressure, differential pressure, and temperature.
Instrumentation Switch
Instrument switches are generally less complex than instrument transmitters
because they provide only off-on output. Pressure switch and temperature switch are typical
examples of an instrument switch. Level switch is another example.
-end-
Artzat Consulting is owned by Arthur Zatarain, PE in Metairie Louisiana,
a suburb of New Orleans Artzat provides consulting and expert witness services
to attorneys, insurers, and end users. Typical projects relate to equipment,
automation, instrumentation, and control systems. Service is available nationwide
with engineering licenses held in Louisiana, Alabama, California, and Alaska.
Forensic Engineer
A forensic engineer performs analysis and reporting on technhical matters
that are typically being pricessed through some form of legal matter. However,
a legal environment isn't required for a forensic examination. The analysis
may be performed merely to determine the cause of a specific event or condition.
For example, a forensic examination may be made on a control system to determine
why an accident occured, or why a system did not perform as expected. The
forensic analysis may be of software code such as ladder lofic in a PLC,
or it may involve hard wired relay logic, electrical controls, power distribution,
or instrumentation. Forensic engineering is therefore useful in a variety
of situations regardless of the legal entanglement.
Industrial Equipment
Typical equipment includes programmable logic controller PLC, distrubited
control system DCS, and electric relay logic. PLC systems use ladder logic
for most operations, while a DCS will often use function block programming.
The concepts of PLC and DCS have merged into a unified control platform based
on open architecture interfaces. The use if ladder logic is widespread due
to its earlier application to relay logic circuits.
An expert witness is used to investigate and evaluate the technical and
commercial aspects of accidents, intellectual property, and commercial matters.
Artzat consulting can assist clients in all these areas, with experience
with steam boilers, paper mill, steel mill, burner management, and telemetry
scada. Other areas include medical devices, flow measurement, meters, power
distribution, and refridgeration.
Expert Witness Services
Expert witness can be provided in any state, with experience in Louisiana,
California, Alabama, and Alaska. Other states include North Carolina, Olkahoma,
Illionis, and Indiana and Texas. Michigan has also been served, with the
states of Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and District of Columbia DC. Any
state such as New York or New Jersey can also be served by expert witness
service. Professional credentials are important, such as licensed engineer
or registered engineer. Also importnat is a masters degree in engineering
or similar field. A phd is not a necessity for an expert witness because
career experience and expert witness experience is more useful to the client
than a phd with no relevant experience.
product Liability
A forensic engineer is useful for matters of product liability and product defects.
Artzat Consulting has experience with product liability for industrial and commercial
equipment. Product liability has also been analyzed for control systems, programmable
controllers, ladder logic, and engineering design. Product liability can result from
an original product manufacturer oem, or from a systems integrator who combines components
into a complete system.
Forensic Engineering Locations
Service in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama is efficient due
to the proximity of Metairie to those areas. However, an airplane will take
Artzat anywhere within the USA in a matter of hours. Travel to Alabama areas
such as Birmingham or Montgomery or Mobile is easy, with Huntsville also
accessible by car. Visits to Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin are
also less than one day away by car. A phd is not unusual for an expert witness,
but is not really important when compared to real life experience with equipment,
controls and automation with PLC and DCS control system equipment.
Service in California includes Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego
as well as outlying Bakersfield and Antioch. Seattle is a bit far, but the
airline does most of the heavy lifting. Travel to New York NYC occurs easily
on JetBlue and Delta. Once in NYC the entire tri-state area is easily accessibls,
as is upstate new york.
Service to New England is welcomed, so please inquire with your technical
requirements for an expert witness. Travel to new England such as Boston
is by JetBlue, or other carriers, which can then lead to other New England
cities.
Engineer for Machine Accident
An engineer ma be required to serve as an expert witness or forensic
for a machine accident such as with a conveyor, power press, steel mill,
or extraction machine. The instance could be an equipment accident, or it
could be a process accident. A typical example is an expert engineer for
a manufacturing accident. This could be an expert engineer or forensic engineer
in an assembly plant, or an expert engineer in a production line or on a
vehicle assembly line.
Oilfield accident
An expert engineer can be useful to evaluate an oilfield or oil and gas
accident. Those events may include oil and gas or the related products such
as water, co2, h2s, and sulfates. The accidents occur on oil wells, gas
wells, pipelines, storage tanks, and production vessels such as separators,
treaters, waste heat recovery units, and water treating facilities. Such
events can be generally divided into an oil and gas drilling accident or
an oil and gas production accident. An oilfield accident requiring an expert
engineer can occur onshore of offshore. The expert engineer can be for control
system, production system, safety system or automation system, or instrumentation.
The system can be electrical, electric, electronic, hydraulic, and pneumatic.
A computer control system can also require an expert engineer. An industiral
engineer can also be used if the matter involves safety and production systems.
Automatic control
An expert engineer may be required for an accident involving automatic
control. That expert could be for electrical engineer, control system engineer,
or automation engineer. A mechanical engineer or someone with experience
with mechanical engineering can also be useful for an automatic control
accident. A certified systems integrator is someone who can be an expert
engineer for automatic control. The systems integration involves combining
multiple equipment and techology into a single control system. This involves
design, programming, fabrication, testing installation, and maintenance.
industrial accident
An industrial accident may require an expert engineer or forensic engineer
to analyze and evaluate the control system connected with the event. The
accident may have nothing to do with the control system. Still, a forensic
engineer may be required to analyze the system to determine that the control
system was not af fault.
Equipment accident
An equipment accident can require an expert engineer or expert witness
to help evaluate the circumstances and situation including the mechanical
and electrical components of the equipment. This can be industrial equipment,
process equipment, manufacturing system, commercial equipment such as heater
or dryer, or pump and compresssor. Industrial equipment is also a flow meter,
electrical switchgear, control switch, button, and instrumentation. End
devices are pressure, temperature, level, and other physical measurement.
Many equipment is used for food production, packaging, transportation, storage,
and conveyor. Metal processing such as steel mill, paper mill, refinery,
petrochemical, and tank farm. Vehicle can also be equipment itself, or it
can contain devices related to an equipment accident.
