Electrical room

As a control room (English: electrical room ) is called a space in which electrical equipment, switchgear or protective system are housed. Examples are

• Switchgear for medium and low voltage,
• Programmable Controllers,
• Distributor, equipment for measuring and control engineering,
• Protection systems (short-circuit, overload, overvoltage protection),
• And control rooms as the master clock of clock systems.

Other side rooms are in the field of industrial production, referred to as the control room when they have to meet specific requirements and rules, such as computer rooms, battery rooms, process analyzers or in telecommunication rooms.

Main features

The location of these spaces depends on safety and traffic-related reasons, such as an escape route, good accessibility for operation, transport and fire fighting. Are switching rooms, provided by local option, apart from other production (eg in the front building of a building). These spaces are generally locked and are only accessible to qualified personnel. Depending on the size and environment, an additional escape output is provided in a control room.

Depending on the type of installed facilities, control rooms are designed in consideration of excessive heating by external and internal influences. Corresponding means for ventilating and cooling are provided. The rooms are made fire resistant and structurally separate from adjacent rooms. Depending on the environment hazardous zones are taken into account by special devices such as locks or appropriately designed cable glands.

The electrotechnical equipment (the local position in space define so-called fields) in control cabinets or open racks housed. In many control rooms a cable floor ( raised floor ) is provided. Lines can be fed into the cabinets or boxes so easily from below.

Regulations

The characteristics concerning the design of control rooms are the subject of several DIN and VDI / VDE guidelines and ordinances. The guideline VDI / VDE 3546, DIN VDE 0100, VDI / VDE 2180 and the Workplace Directive are mentioned in particular. Summarized and explained these standards, eg in NAMUR worksheet NA26 - PLT rooms control rooms, control rooms, utility rooms, Planning Guide for the structural design. The worksheet is for control rooms following essential requirements before (excerpt):

• Secured access and escape routes, even for firefighters.
• Location not below ground level ( Reason: Water warning in burst pipes and firefighting operations, Risk of heavy gases ).
• Location outside the Ex zone.
• Able as possible within a building on the outer wall (cable tray).
• As needed, be assigned meaningful multiple control rooms for electrical power distribution parts of the plant (decentralized control rooms near consumer points ).
• Observe Cheap wiring, low voltage and medium voltage switchgear rooms shall be separated preferably spatially.
• Water, steam and product piping must not be run through these spaces.