Process Control
In industrial process control, an annunciator panel is a system to alert operators of alarm conditions in the plant. Multiple back-lit windows are provided, each engraved with the name of a process alarm. Lamps in each window are controlled by hard-wired switches in the plant, arranged to operate when a process condition enters an abnormal state (such as high temperature, low pressure, loss of cooling water flow, or many others). Single point or multipoint alarm logic modules operate the window lights based on a preselected ISA 18.1 or custom sequence.
In one common alarm sequence, the light in a window will flash and a bell or horn will sound to attract the operator's attention when the alarm condition is detected. The operator can silence the alarm with a button, and the window will remain lit as long as the process is in the alarm state. When the alarm clears (process condition returns to normal), the lamps in the window go out.
Annunciator panels were relatively costly to install in a plant because they had dedicated wiring to the alarm initiating devices in the process plant. Since incandescent lamps were used, a lamp test button was always provided to allow early detection of failed lamps. Modern electronic distributed control systems usually require less wiring since the process signals can be monitored within the control system, and the engraved windows are replaced by alaphanumeric displays on a computer monitor.
Behavior of alarm systems, and colors used to indicate alarms, are standardized. Standards such as ISA 18.1 or EN 60073 simplify purchase of systems and training of operators by giving standard alarm sequences.
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