European debut of intrinsic

safety breakthrough
Michael Babb
Control Engineering

Europe

r 40 years intrinsic safety (EX il has meant

limiting the amount of electric power to Jess
than 2 Watts in dangerous areas, for fear any
spark could ignite an explosion. A:; a result,
an entire industry of companies has developed that
supply isolators and barriers to provide this type
of protection. At lnterkama, one of the co-located
sheM's that was part of Hannover Industrial Fair this
year. two of these companies were showing a new approach that could potentially
alter the future of EX i practice.
MTL Instruments Group.
based
in Luton, England, U.K., and Pepperl
... Fuchs, w ith world headquarters in

Mannheim, Gennany, were displaying

technology that allows comparatively
large amounts of power-SO Watts and

MTl.lnsrroments
Group's Graeme
Philp (above) and
Peppert+Fuchs'

Thomu

beyond-into areas that were previously considered too dangerous for live
electricity.
The new method
uses fast electronics
to monitor fieldbus
circuits and detect
surges in current
and voltage that are
characteristic of a
suddenly broken line
or a module being
unplugged from a

backplane.

Kleinbong81tz.

Source: M . Babb.
Control Engln&ering

Sparks

Europe

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For mote newl from European vendorlllhlbillng.1

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voltage within the

respective circuit, and these peaks show very specific
characteristics. Electronics can detect those characteristics within five microseconds and shut down the
power supply. The idea is to shut off power before a
critical situation can arise, and before the current can
reach a level to build up sufficient heat for ignition.
For its efforts, PepperI+Fuchs was one of five
Hennes Award finalists at Hannover Messe !winners
of the Hermes Award, the world's largest technology
prize, receive 100,000 Euros). Its system is called DART,
for dynamic arc recognition and termination.
DiplIng Thomas K1einbongartz, Pepper! + Fuchs
director of global marketing, says his company will
offer DART in two versions: one is for highpower

22 JULY 2008 CONTROL ENGINEERING.

I'

always

lead. to a sudden peak

of the current and

.controleng.com

devices up to 50 Watts inside the Ex i area, such

as industrial Pes, LED lighting systems, analySis
instruments, and solenoid valves.. A second systern will offer, via a fieldbus infrastructure, up to
8 Watts of electric power per segment inside explosion hazardous areas.
Factors such as cable length and device characteristics can greatly influence the response time for
spark detection, says lGeinhongam. DART deals
with these differences by connecting the device
via a decoupling module to the energy supply. The
module ensures a clearly defmed electrical response
pattern, always providing the DART system with a
signal that anows the dependable detection of critical situations requiring immediate shutdown of the
circuit, he said.
MTL Instruments Group managing director Graeme Philp was on hand to introduce his
company's version of the concept calJed "Fast
Switch. " MTL will implement the technology in
conjunction with the MTL PoEx Intrinsic Safety Ethernet range, which was a major product
launch at Interkama.
'The ability to run fieldbus networks over a
longer distance while maintaining the ability to
live work is solved by the use of certified switching components that permit the safe interruption
of non-intrinsically safe circuits," Philp said. "This,
together with the launch at Interkama of redundant power for FISCO (Fieldbus Intrinsically Safe
Concept) networks, allows users to enjoy the highest availability on the market, while retaining the
ability to live work in applications requiring long
cable lengths."
At a Fieldbus Foundation seminar in Houston,
TX, also in April 2008, Philp showed MTl.:s F809F
Fieldbus diagnostics module. At that time, MTL
Instruments was three months into its acquisition
by U.S.based Cooper Industries and Philp told
Control Engineering, "It's really going well. This
purchase has not limited our independence.' Philp
characterizes the transition as highly complemen
tary and beneficial for customers. "There's not a
single product overlap,' he said.
Michael &bb is editor of Control Engineering
Europe. Reach him through www.controlengeurope.

rom.
_ _m.pepperl-fuchs.com

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