Consulting-Specifying Engineer - November 2007 - (Page 35)

Industrial-strength lighting Carefully evaluating different lighting schemes for an aerospace acoustical chamber leads to an optimal design solution. BY MIKE WATKINS, PE, LEED AP, Project Manager, The RMH Group, Lakewood, Colo. A lthough power, grounding, and controls take center stage in electrical design for the industrial environment, the challenges involved with lighting industrial spaces often are overlooked. These challenges include: • Making room and locations for the larger fixtures that typically are required for explosion-proof environments • Maintaining adequate lighting levels in wet or hose-down environments • Maintaining adequate lighting levels in high-vibration environments • Maintaining light fixtures in high-bay environments • Having instant illumination in high-bay environments while maintaining adequate lighting levels • Ensuring that light fixtures don’t disrupt the integrity of cleanroom environments • Identifying multiple suppliers who are able to supply design-compliant light fixtures when the owner’s contracting procedures require more than one manufacturer for materials • Providing energy-efficient lighting control schemes within industrial environments. A case study for an aerospace company illustrates how one team of lighting designers overcame a number of these challenges. The project entailed replacement of lighting inside a seven-story, Class 10,000 cleanroom, acoustical and vibration chamber, where aerospace equipment is tested, with a maintenance catwalk on each level. To add to the mix, the ground floor area inside the chamber was a Class 1, Division 2 hazardous environment. The existing lighting inside the chamber, designed in 1984, consisted of 15 400 W metal-halide floodlights centered on each of the three permanent walls and located 14 ft above the floor and 10 ft above each of the maintenance catwalks. The lighting was not uniform due to the shadows created by the catwalks and catwalk supports. In addition, the lighting levels did not meet cleanroom lighting standards of a 100 ft candles average. Instead, the lighting varied between 10 ft and 15 ft candles when measured in the middle of the chamber and less then 10 ft candles at the perimeter walls. In discussions with the user and the facility department, a number of lighting criteria were established: L This cleanroom space is explosion proof. Explosion-proof lighting must be used on the ground floor up to 14 ft above the floor. Photo courtesy The RMH Group Consulting-Specifying Engineer • NOVEMBER 2007 35

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Consulting-Specifying Engineer - November 2007

Consulting-Specifying Engineer Contents Editor's Viewpoint Letters In The News M/E Roundtable Emergency Power for Healthcare 2007 Products of the Year Industrial-strength Lighting Hazardous HVAC Codes and Standards Management Report Jobs/Classifieds Specifier's Notebook On-Peak Performance Contents Best Battery Selector in Engine Starting Applications NEC 708: Practical Impact on Backup Power Systems Protecting Power: Specifying Outdoor Generator Enclosures Investing in Backup Power Systems Coes, Consultants, Manufacturers, and Standby Power Systems

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - November 2007

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