Pageant is an intrinsically safe Operator Panel comprising a 7 inch backlit display, PLC and I/O modules for use in gas and dust hazardous areas. It provides the advantages of intrinsic safety, plus lower power dissipation, less weight and lower cost compared with systems employing alternative explosion protection techniques. This new integrated panel, which is internationally Ex ia certified for installation in all gas and dust Zones, has plug-in I/O modules and is able to display multiple variables and graphics in all lighting conditions.
Ideal for monitoring and controlling hazardous area equipment and processes, Pageant employs the well established IEC 61131 compliant, CODESYS® runtime PLC software and visualization engine which has become an industry standard, and is now used in more than 1,500 different products worldwide. It will therefore already be familiar to many users. Pageant is supplied with a lifetime software licence and a three year guarantee plus extensive documentation.
The Pageant Operator Display incorporates eight touch buttons each with a tricolour LED annunciator for operator inputs, all of which are individually programmable. Two additional LEDs indicate status and diagnostics. Operator inputs can also be made via a plug-in digital input module from external contacts such as large industrial push buttons.
Applications range from a simple remote Modbus RTU terminal displaying multiple variables, to more complex systems such as the control and display of mixing, batching, trace heating, mud pumping or flammable still control, in any hazardous location, and with almost any gas or dust. Pageant can function alone, or as part of an intrinsically safe RS485-IS network, including operation as a Modbus RTU master or slave.
To simplify design and further reduce cost, Pageant is modular. The Operator Panel accommodates any combination of up to seven individually certified plug-in analogue and digital I/O modules, which can be connected to apparatus in Zone 0, 1, 2, 20, 21 or 22. Only the required modules need to be purchased, and if process requirements change, additional modules may be fitted and commissioned on-site, all without the need for additional certification. The flexible IECEx, ATEX and UKEX certification allows any combination of BEKA plug-in I/O modules to be fitted to the display without additional approval. Similarly flexible North American certification is pending.
Pageant consumes less than 4 watts and is powered by a BEKA Power Isolator located in a safe area, or with additional impact and environmental protection in Zone 2 or 22. The very low power consumption minimises heating when Pageant is installed in an electrical control enclosure or cubicle, and the low weight permits installation in a cabinet door.
For many hazardous area control and display applications requiring multiple variables and simple graphics, Pageant can be tailored to provide an easy to use low cost solution. Visit our website at www.beka.co.uk and read Pageant Explained to see what Pageant could do for you, or better still, request a demonstration at your site, or at BEKA in Hitchin where Pageant was designed and is being manufactured. A Pageant system can be as simple or as complicated as you wish it to be.
First published in Instrumentation monthly, September 2023.
