Voltage indicators boost paper mill safety
A
Grace Engineered Products product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Feb 11, 2008
A voltage indicator is a permanently wired 'voltmeter' that provides electricians with a full-time, visual, independent, thru-door power indication.
Near-death experiences among paper mill electricians are all too common, prompting one paper mill to use voltage indicators (VIs) to enhance its electrical safety programme.
Electrical safety boils down to a single question: "voltage or no voltage?".
Electricians rely on a voltmeter to provide the right answer and there is no room for error.
Wiring a VI to the primary power source provides an answer to the voltage question.
This pushbutton-sized device is a permanently wired 'voltmeter' that provides electricians with a full-time, visual, independent, thru-door power indication.
A VI serves has a single purpose: to indicate the presence of hazardous voltage.
In the past, the mill used neon pilot lights installed on electrical mains.
A neon indicator's intensity provided limited indication of voltage levels and this simple 'voltage indicator' still needed fuses and replacement bulbs.
After seeing the safety benefits of thru-door voltage indicators, the paper mill built a neon indicating light assembly with access holes that electricians used to verify zero energy after opening the disconnect.
They installed these on 208V lighting panels.
A single 30mm pushbutton-sized VI overcame the limitations of the neon pilot light assembly.
This three-phase device operates at 40-750V AC or 30-1000V DC, requires no fuses, uses long-life LEDs, redundant circuitry and potted construction for high reliability.
In addition, it was low cost and very easy to install.
The mill maintenance manager began installing a few units into high-maintenance areas of the plant.
As the days went on, the mill maintenance staff began to see the benefits of this simple, reliable device and started installing them throughout the plant.
Increasingly stringent safety requirements demanded by OSHA forced the mill to add a voltage verification step to its mechanical lock-out tag-out procedure (LOTO).
Mechanics needed to have an electrician verify a 'zero voltage' state on the load side of their circuit breaker disconnects before performing equipment maintenance.
This added work and downtime would increase costs of the paper mill's scheduled shutdowns.
The solution was to use a thru door VI as a substitute "electrician" for this zero voltage checking step.
Operating the isolator and seeing a real voltage feedback from a VI provides a secondary indication that the electrical energy has been pre-verified as isolated.
Moreover, for a critical failure to occur both devices would have to fail at the same time.
Not what you're looking for? Search the site.
Google Ads
Contact Grace Engineered Products
Related Stories
- Power Jacks actuators used in Wimbledon roof
- HMK incorporates Schaeffler actuators into range
- Miniature linear actuator used in locking system
- Datwyler systems keep motorway tunnels safe
- Actuator provides precise temperature control
Articles by product category
- Consultancy and Services (903)
- Machine Building (4,517)
-
Engineering Design Software (6,179)
- Engineering Design Software (12)
- 2D CAD software (200)
- 3D CAD software (1,157)
- FEA and structural analysis software (369)
- Fluid, thermal, noise, vibration software (334)
- Simulation, modelling, validation software (914)
- Rendering, visualisation, styling software (196)
- Materials design and moulding design software (151)
- Process, instrumentation, automation software (258)
- Electrical design software (164)
- Publishing and documentation software (229)
- Maths, charting, statistics, QA software (317)
- Data, document management software (310)
- CAM, CNC, production management software (568)
- File conversion software, data capture (351)
- PLM and collaboration software (649)
-
Drives, Motors and Controls (3,361)
- Drives, Motors and Controls (1)
- Precision Motors and Gears (411)
- Industrial Drives/Controls (1,276)
- Linear Drives and Motors (114)
- Industrial Motors (497)
- Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls (1,060)
- Small Mechanical Components, Joining, Tools (1,975)
-
Control and Instrumentation (5,028)
- Plantwide control (1,324)
- Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications (1,174)
- Smaller-Sized PLCs (387)
- CNC and Motion Controllers (184)
- Mid-range and Large PLCs (201)
- Power Supplies, Uninterruptible Power (562)
- HMIs/Operator Interfaces (294)
- Logic Controllers, Timers and Relays (96)
- Cabling, Conduit, Signal Conditioning (806)
-
Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (5,459)
- Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (1)
- Data acquisition Software and Communications (494)
- Data Acquisition Hardware and PC I/O Boards (472)
- Electrical and Electronic Testing, PAT Equipment (630)
- Form/co-ordinate, optical, vision instruments (703)
- Gauges, Indicators and Instruments (440)
- Data loggers (422)
- Materials testing equipment (421)
- Telecomms/network test equipment, software etc (154)
- Testing and Calibration Services and Information (500)
- Testing, analysing and monitoring equipment (1,222)
-
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4,160)
- Batteries, chargers and circuit protection (555)
- Connectors, Terminals, Busbars, Slip Rings (679)
- Enclosures and Equipment Cooling Fans (709)
- Knobs, Handles and Enclosure Hardware (420)
- PCs and Embedded Systems (798)
- Electrical and Electronic Subassemblies (369)
- Electrical and Electronic Components (630)
-
Materials and Processing (2,963)
- Materials and Processing (5)
- Materials and components (2,215)
- Rapid Prototyping (458)
- Materials processing and testing (285)
-
Engineering Industry News, Resources (6,093)
- Engineering Industry News, Resources (4)
- Engineering Business News, Views (388)
- Engineering Exhibitions, Events (562)
- Engineering Conferences (425)
- Engineering Seminars (400)
- Engineering Industry Developments, Awards (633)
- Engineering Guides, Newsletters (349)
- Engineering Recruitment, Employment (219)
- Engineering Training Courses (433)
- Engineering Education, Resources, Standards (838)
- Engineering Industry Reports, Surveys (597)
- Electronic Resources for Engineers (278)
- Health and Safety Legislation (402)
- Health and Safety Strategy, Risk Assessment (113)
- Health and Safety Consultancy, Software (175)
- Health and Safety Events, Training, News (277)
-
Powertrain Design (3,598)
- Powertrain Design (2)
- Bearings (939)
- Chains and belts (326)
- Gears, brakes, couplings and engines (1,441)
- Hydraulic Components (471)
- Lubricants (418)
-
Capital Equipment (3,387)
- Capital Equipment (1)
- Manufacturing Machinery and Plant Equipment (468)
- Production line blowers and fans (62)
- Compressors and Air Treatment (510)
- Electronics Manufacturing, Tools, Instruments (192)
- Electrical hardware (131)
- Machinery and Production Equipment (1,093)
- Robotics, Handling and Storage (930)
-
Sensors (7,080)
- Sensors (8)
- Accelerometers and Vibration Sensors (427)
- Loadcells, Force Sensors, Torque Sensors (699)
- Pressure sensors (621)
- Flowmeters and Flow Sensors (618)
- Level Sensors and Leak Detectors (527)
- Linear Position Sensors (399)
- Rotary Position, Tilt and Angular Sensors (546)
- Proximity Sensors (700)
- Gas, Chemical, Radiation, Magnetic Sensors (284)
- Humidity and Environmental Sensors (152)
- Temperature sensors (612)
- Vision and Colour Sensors (1,384)
- Barcode Sensors (103)
- Valves, Pumps, Process Hardware (3,623)
