Essentials of Industrial Control Panel Design

If you’re involved in managing industrial control panels, you might be aware of their importance. It consists of electrical components and devices that enable the automation of processes and equipment. Do you know the value of designing and implementing a control panel? A proper design enhances the performance of your production procedures and lowers costs by accomplishing certain tasks. Improperly designed or poorly maintained panels may result in defective equipment. It may cause unnecessary disruptions, risks, downtime leading to expensive repairs expense.

This article will help walk you through the most useful tips and tricks to make optimum use of your new or existing electrical control panels.

Adequate Cooling

Research shows that high-temperature results in 50% of electronic equipment failures. Industrial control panel designers often overlook a practical view of ambient temperature extremes. Heat is a fundamental enemy of electronic components. It is essential to dissipate heat for proper temperature control planning.

Let’s have a quick look at the different methods of preventing industrial control panel from overheating:

Install a temperature assessing device or implement a machine monitoring app that alerts you in real-time to overcome the risk of panel failure.

An air conditioning unit with a little more capacity for the enclosure size can be mounted to maintain a constant temperature in your panel and prevent overheating.

Interior fans or enclosure ventilation is a low-cost option and a wise choice for limited space. It helps keep panel components cool.

Frequent cleaning of dust and debris from your control panels is necessary to prevent your system from overheating.

Routine Maintenance Practices

The electrical control panels come in different shapes and sizes. So, they require specialized individual handling. It can be small with some components to large banks of elements contained in multiple cabinets. It is necessary to schedule regular maintenance inspections by in-house technicians or third-party electrical contractors or qualified personnel.

Check for faulty or frayed wiring, worn components, loose connections, and more.

Repair/ Replace damaged components and wires, tighten loose connections & clean out debris using a vacuum or air compressor with proper pressure setting.

A control panel enclosure must be grounded to clear any electrical faults.

Proper Labeling & Documentation

It is important to check on the labeling of the entire panel and your machine. Also, one more aspect often neglected due to cost savings and time is the documentation of a control system. The importance of proper documentation is often not realized especially until repairs or changes need to be made to the panel or programs.

Replace worn or damaged labels to reduce repair time and enhance the safety of your control panel.

Implement a consistent and logical labeling methodology for wiring components to improve the quality of work and maintenance.

Document and record each change, repairs, update prints & schematics.

Appropriate Enclosure Sizing

It is important to determine the space needed to fit all necessary electrical components before choosing an enclosure for the control panel. This is a vital step in the design process. Enclosures come in different types of materials and designs to suit specific applications.

Analyze the environment that the panel will be placed in.

Consider proper sizing of the enclosure to fit in the installed control panel.

UL 508A, NEMA 250, NFPA 70, NFPA 79, and UL 698A are some of the regulatory codes and standards for Industrial Control Panel design. The control panel design work should be performed under professional engineer guidance to ensure compliance with codes and standards.

Conclusion

Hence, it is essential to consider the above-mentioned guide for designing a primary industrial control panel. Given the depth and complexity of control panel design, outsourcing an experienced industrial electrical engineering company can help you design & develop robust and cost-effective solutions.

Judith Morrison is an expert in the field of industrial engineering and writes articles related to piping, civil, equipment engineering related articles.