Despite the increasing adoption of centralised control systems on hazardous process plants and the motivation to keep employees out of harm's way, there is still a place for local loop indicators.
Manufacturer BEKA has recently launched a range of fieldbus devices to complement its more traditional analogue loop indicators. The company launched its first intrinsically safe 4-20 mA loop-powered indicator in 1984. With over a quarter of a century's experience it has been responsible for many innovations since then and still boasts an enviable specification which includes a voltage burden of less than one volt, backlights, dual alarms and 16-point linearisation. The indicator range is complemented by bargraph units, temperature displays, rate totalisers, batch controllers and other solutions falling under the generic title of display instrumentation.
The differentiator for BEKA is large-sized displays which include customised LCDs in a large display window. Whilst the advent of user-friendly graphical operating environments has revolutionised the utility and adoption of computerised systems such as scada and DCS, the manufacturer promotes the adoption of fall-back positions wherever possible. This is especially so for more safety-critical aspects of plant operations and is ameliorated by the low cost of adding such a display into an existing loop.
An alarm option can facilitate audible or visual annunciation via locally actuated sounders or flashing beacons, which are also available from BEKA.
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