What is Potentially Explosive Atmosphere Certification and why you may need it! - Jul 15 2010 - Paul Lazor - Petro Industry News - Articles Petro Online

What is Potentially Explosive Atmosphere Certification and why you may need it! - Jul 15 2010 - Paul Lazor - Petro Industry News - Articles Petro Online

Choosing a Digital Camera

How to make sure your 
camera works for you,

not against you

SUMMARY

You need an intrinsically safe camera. What should you be looking for? Well, obviously it must be ATEX certified – but what else? In this article we discuss five key factors to look for:

Image review capability

Review images for focus, scene accuracy and light levels. Check your photographs in the field.

Manufacturer-designed rechargeable battery packs

Convenient, cost-effective and ensuring operation within the ATEX certification.

Ability to use macro lenses

For close ups, a camera’s in-built macro mode may not be up to the task.

Hazardous environment usability

Use a camera designed for hazardous environments and operable with PPE such as protective gloves.

High resolution and good on-board memory capacity

High resolution for better image quality, a large memory to store more photos and videos.

1. Choose a camera that allows image review 

Make sure your digital camera allows image review in the field. An LCD screen allows you to review your image for focus, scene accuracy, light levels and much more! Don’t end up costing your company more money by selecting an instrument which requires repeat work.

• Does your digital camera have an LCD screen or only a view finder?
• Can you be sure your image is in focus without returning to the office?

Imagine this scenario: you have spent the whole day documenting a facility. A job well done? Er, no. When you return to your office you find that half of the images you have taken are out of focus. You have staked your reputation on getting the job done, but your images are unusable. The reason? Your camera has a viewfinder but no LCD display. You were unable to check the images at the time.

Make sure your digital camera allows image review to ensure the best results, first time and every time.

2. Use reliable, manufacturer-designed battery packs - not expensive non-rechargeables

If your camera uses non-rechargeable (primary cells), the continued cost of ownership is considerably higher. Be sure the digital camera you select has rechargeable battery packs manufactured and certified by the camera manufacturer.

• Intrinsically safe devices can only use batteries recommended by their manufacturer.
• What happens if the batteries specified by the manufacturer are discontinued?

Intrinsically safe (I.S.) devices are generally lighter and more compact than explosion proof systems, which is often an advantage. However I.S. devices can have a major flaw – the batteries specified in the user manual must be used with the device. Failure to do so renders the I.S. device potentially unsafe and negates its ATEX certification. To save development costs, some manufacturers specify a series of third party batteries for their devices; however, if these batteries are no longer available your I.S. device cannot be used without invalidating the certification.

If your I.S. digital camera specifies a primary cell, such as the Duracell® MN1500, for example, new MN1500 batteries must be purchased each time the previous set is depleted - a “primary cell” is a non-rechargeable battery. This increases the continued cost of ownership of the digital camera. And can you be sure how long Duracell® will continue to manufacture MN1500 AA primary cells? If your I.S. digital camera certification requires a third party battery, then that battery must be used and no other. And just because an I.S. digital camera uses AA batteries doesn’t mean it can use any AA battery...

You buy a digital camera to perform a task over its lifespan, which may be measured in several years. So reduce your ongoing cost of ownership by selecting a camera that uses reliable, rechargeable battery packs manufactured and certified by the camera manufacturer.

3. A picture is worth a thousand words - but only if it's in focus

Your digital camera is a significant purchase and one that should be able to operate in a variety of scenarios. Ensure that your digital camera is capable of taking close-up equipment shots at distances of 50mm in addition to wide area shots of your plant. Interchangeable lenses increase the scope of work of your camera.

• Do you need to take images of, for example, rating plates or other machinery detail at distances less than 150mm?
• Have you ever had to retake a close-up image because it was out of focus?

Close-up imaging is a requirement of the industrial digital camera user and most digital cameras are equipped with a macro mode to achieve this. However, with automatic focussing, the camera may ignore the object you want to photograph and focus on other areas in its field of view instead. To achieve a sharp focus with macro mode you will certainly need an LCD display, good light conditions and lots of patience.

A far better solution for quality close-up photographs, and a solution proven by professional photographers, involves the use of a specialist macro lens. A macro lens effectively enlarges a close-up target. The full CCD sensor array is used to capture the image, meaning the digital camera can take clear, high resolution shots at a range of 50mm or less.

4. Choose a digital camera that operates in the environment you work in

Your digital camera must contribute to safety - not detract from it. Wearing PPE and other protective clothing is a requirement for many petrochemical professionals and your digital camera must be operable in conjunction with this equipment. Make sure your digital camera Power and Shutter buttons are clearly separate and easily located/operated even with full PPE.

• Will you be using your camera in winter/cold environments?
• Will you be wearing PPE or gloves?

Working in a hazardous area can be tough: extreme weather, sub-zero temperatures, explosive atmospheres. A digital camera designed for this environment should be simple to operate while wearing specialist protective clothing such as bulky gloves, even those made from fire retardant (FR) material. Your digital camera’s power On/Off) and shutter buttons should be sufficiently spaced so that they do not interfere with one another and be prominent enough to be easy to locate and operate even when wearing heavy gloves (as shown in the photograph of the ToughPIX 2300XP series camera on the front page of this document).

5. Image quality is everything

Your digital camera must be able to provide images with a minimum of 5 megapixels and preferably have the ability to adjust the resolution in step up to 10 megapixels.

Onboard storage should be a minimum of 2Gb to provide sufficient storage for maximum high quality image storage plus movies.

• Will you need to take good quality close-ups?
• Will your shots be cropped for presentations or emailed to colleagues?

As with any digital camera, the greater the resolution, the better the image quality. This is especially important  when you are trying to resolve small details which may need to be enlarged and then cropped to highlight important sections of equipment. Clearly, a camera with 5 megapixels is capable of creating a more detailed image than a camera with 3 megapixels. The following table shows, for three sizes of camera sensor, how large an image can be expanded without a loss of picture quality:

Adjustable resolution can also be an important factor when selecting a digital camera. Having the ability to reduce or increase the image resolution as the situation dictates allows you to maximize the storage capacity of the camera whilst at the same time having the option of ultra-high resolution images when required. Although most cameras are generally supplied with on-board memory greater than 1Gb, the recommended minimum for the maintenance professional is 2Gb. If your camera is capable of shooting videos, its onboard storage capacity is even more important with up to 1Gb required to record every 40 minutes of footage.

For more information on Intrinsically safe digital cameras...click here

Award winning Cap lamp - ALFA WL

Premio Impulso 2009: "AWARD 'IMPULSO' 2009

Adaro has been awarded by the regional Government of the Principality of Asturias with the Innovation Industrial Management Prize 'Impulso 2009' in the category of Industrial Development for the cap lamp ALFA WL.

The Jury highlighted the following points:

• The development of a new line of cap lamps for professional use in potential explosive atmospheres.
• The design of the different parts which allows the absence of a cable between lamp and battery.
• The light and robust design which enables the use and responds to the users demands.
• The possibility of integrating a wireless communication system for control, location and diagnostic.
• The long trajectory of the company designing and developing safety lamps from 1914."

Read more about the ALFA WL here.

The X.com 611 -Ex Intrinsically Safe Mobile Phone

X.clusive, X.treme X.plosion-proof - the x.com. The mobile phone comes with an integrated acceleration sensor and GPS receiver for providing dead man‘s alarm and location of workers in emergency situations. The robust housing offers a high level of stability and durability against shocks and is also dust tight and splash proof according to IP64.

Characteristics:

• Dual band mobile phone for GSM 900/1800 networks
• LCD display with 65,536 colours
• Bluetooth®
• Data transmission via GPRS
• Java™ MIDP 2.0 - platform
• Integrated Office functionality
• Synchronisation with MS Outlook® or Lotus Notes®
• Rechargeable Li-Ion battery with 2000 mAh
• Man down sensor and GPS

Ex-designation

II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4

The 611 -Ex mobile phone provides you with reliable and safe communication for your daily work inside the Ex-area. 

This extremely robust mobile phone meets your high industrial requirements according to the IP64 protection rating and is specifically suitable for demanding and loud environments.

The 611 -Ex supports GSM 900/1800 networks worldwide, so that you are flexible and can stay in touch. Besides the classic telephone functions, you can send and receive E-Mails and text messages everywhere. And with predictive text input (T9), messages are quickly written.

The 611 -Ex can be connected via Bluetooth® to various 

Bluetooth®-capable devices. For example, connect your mobile phone to a PC and synchronise your contacts. The integrated organiser functionality allows you to note appointments in the calendar or to be reminded about tasks.

The 611 -Ex is fitted with a 3D-acceleration sensor and the most up-to-date GPS chipset. The integrated acceleration sensor detects the position of the x.com user and is able to activate an automatic alarm in case of emergency.

The integrated GPS chip supports the exact location of people in an emergency situation. When the mobile phone sends an alarm, the current position data of the GPS chip is transmitted via SMS to a tracking software application. 

Please note that positioning using GPS is dependant upon the local physical surroundings.

Emergency situations can be recognised quickly and appropriate rescue operations can be initiated.

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