Audible & Visual Alarm Solution Optimizes Safety in Large-Scale Plants

Industrial Concepts partners with Pfannenberg to create a wireless audible & visual alarm safety solution

Industrial Concepts, Inc. has partnered with Pfannenberg USA, a leading manufacturer of thermal management and audible/visual alarms, to develop an innovative signaling solution for large-scale plants. This fully wireless solution uses Pfannenberg’s audible and visual alarms to integrate into existing automated alert systems.

A global food company needed a new employee notification system for a large, existing processing plant and turned to Industrial Concepts, Inc. for an innovative solution. Industrial Concepts paired a wireless Hitachi (ABB) radio with visual and audible alarms from Pfannenberg to deliver a flexible, effective system with up to a 60 percent cost savings over traditional methods. This new system ensures all plant employees are alerted to chemical, weather, active shooter, or fire situations with both visual and audible warnings.

Industrial Concepts determined using four-color light panels with strobes would be more beneficial for large, loud environments. The strobes enabled more perceptible light reflections and higher visibility throughout the plant. The current hardware of this audible and visual alarm system utilizes the Pfannenberg PA 20 Sounder and the four-color combined PYRA PY X-S strobes.

Each alarm event has a different horn tone to provide further situational information. Pfannenberg’s 120 dB sounders are used to ensure the alarm cuts through background noise.

To handle the intelligence side of the solution Industrial Concepts uses an ABB Compact 800 System. This enables the distribution of alerts based on the situation, only alerting who is necessary. This diminishes the number of evacuations for each emergency.

This specific system requires manual operation, but its flexibility allows it to be integrated with other automated systems. For example, integrating a fire system into the Industrial Concepts system allows both systems to be activated by a single manual switch. Another installation example featured integration of a company’s automated chemical detection system with the Industrial Concepts system.

System interface process panels are housed in designated areas throughout the plants and feature touch screen switches. Most plants have security guards who can activate the system at any time, but if any personnel witness an emergency situation, they can activate the system as well.

The radios are fully adjustable, meaning the amplitude can be altered to work on a narrower spectrum. The system enclosures that protect the radios and other electronics to the signaling devices are TYPE 4X UL Certified to ensure Washdown capabilities, making them functional in any environment.

With a fully wireless system, plants can save hundreds of thousands of feet in wiring. Industrial Concepts branches into local power circuits and has developed systems to maintain power, even in the face of total power loss. Plus, while OSHA requires 15 minutes of run time for emergency systems, this system offers 2-3 hours of uptime even when power is not available.

For plants with a fiber optic infrastructure in place, it’s possible to build the same system with a combination of wireless and fiber infrastructure.

All installations and solutions are customized to the specific needs of the site. Site surveys are conducted to determine the best signaling solution for the clients.

For more information, visit https://www.pfannenbergusa.com.