Summary: | The accent on centralised control has led to a considerable reduction in panel length by the use of high density instrumentation. Condensing the panel length introduces the problem of mounting back of panel equipment in a much reduced area. Several designs of control panels have been developed within the process industry and the paper reviews the various answers to this problem. One particularly successful integrated design is described and includes development, layout, fabrication, shop testing, transport, installation, maintenance and control house layout. The paper concludes with various improvements and innovations for the future and the impact of integrated panel design on manufacturers and users.
|