Igor Antin
|
Dialight |
Newmarket, UK |
In heavy industrial, harsh and volatile environments like petrochemical, oil and gas facilities, LEDs provide a more reliable and safer lighting solution than traditional high intensity discharge lighting that often fails in mere months due to excessive vibration and extreme operating conditions.
When calculating return on investment, it’s important to consider not only the cost of energy, maintenance equipment and personnel costs, but also fitting storage and disposal. Additionally there are many situations where a reduced number of LED fittings can do a more effective job than the original number of conventional fittings, further reducing the installation and operational costs. The lower profile LED fittings are lighter weight too (Fig.4), which means that they can be installed by one person, unlike the heavier weight conventional lights that often need two people per installation as well as requiring greater distribution and switching gear.
With numerous products now commercially available from a number of reputable manufacturers, many petrochemical companies worldwide have already realized the benefits of LED technology. Future improvements in the technology and the integration of advanced dimming, remote monitoring and intelligent lighting solutions will enable facility managers to have even greater control and predictability in lighting efficiency and improved safety, while generating substantial savings in energy and maintenance costs.