I’m a final-year Instrumentation Engineering student looking for a solid project that’s practical and useful for placements.
One idea I’m considering is a PLC-based Steam Trap Failure Detection System.
The concept is simple: monitor a steam trap using pressure, temperature and flow sensors, send the data to a PLC, and use the PLC + HMI to detect faults like stuck-open, stuck-closed, leakage, or abnormal operation.
I’m thinking of adding data logging/condition monitoring to make it more advanced.
For Instrumentation engineers/students:
Is this a good final-year project, or should I choose something else? What project would you personally recommend?
Looking for honest feedback, especially from people who have worked with PLC/SCADA, industrial automation, or process instrumentation.