When it comes to control panels, there are so many choices for so many environments. Explosion-proof. Washdown. Clean environments. Harsh chemical environments. General purpose, or non-hazardous. The list goes on and on. But before you make any choices, you have to ask and answer some important questions that can potentially save tens of thousands of dollars in project costs. It is well worth the time to question and review each panel’s purpose, location and maintenance needs before moving forward.
This was illustrated at a pharmaceutical plant construction project. At the owner’s request, designers had placed control panels in clean spaces, where they would require expensive stainless steel double-door Hoffman enclosures. Omni reviewed the design drawings and recommended relocating panels to general purpose areas where standard NEMA 12 enclosures could be used and they would be easily accessible for maintenance and emergency service. VFDs were relocated from a clean area to nearby interstitial spaces within 50 feet of the motors they served, and panels that originally called for XP enclosures were moved to a nearby mechanical space. The owner, users and maintenance department were more than pleased with Omni’s solutions and a substantial amount of money was saved.
About Omni
Omni Instrumentation Services, Inc. is a premier instrumentation and electrical contractor, providing superior total care solutions since 1986. Services include instrument installation, tubing installation, instrument calibration, control loop testing, startup and commissioning, power and lighting, process control wiring, BMS wiring, telecommunications and data wiring, fire alarm wiring, security wiring, process network wiring, and control panel fabrication. Omni Instrumentation Services, Inc. is certified in Foundation Fieldbus, Profibus, DeviceNet and ASI-Bus installation.