When air, vapor, mist, or dust – alone or in combination – are present in settings where it or they can ignite under specified operating parameters, a potentially explosive environment occurs. "Hazardous" or "classified" areas or sites have a potentially explosive atmosphere.
In potentially explosive situations, high-quality Wi-Fi access installations for chemical, defense, flight line, food processing, fueling, mining, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical applications are typical. These applications require the best available Wi-Fi performance in the roughest settings, whether for device telemetry, network access, site-to-site connectivity, or unified communications. Local and international laws have been put in place to reduce the risk of running networks and IIoT devices in potentially explosive environments.
Chemical plants, refineries, oil and gas platforms, mining operations, grain processing, and plastics manufacturing all require hazardous area wireless access point enclosures designed and certified for usage in these environments. By preventing tampering, vandalism, and theft, these enclosures also give your wireless access point an extra layer of security. Because the expense of purchasing and installing an explosion-proof enclosure can be anywhere between 4 and 20 times the cost of the access point it is supposed to protect, using an external enclosure is the most realistic solution for quickly evolving wireless technology. It's much less expensive to replace the access point while keeping the protective enclosure intact than replacing the enclosure entirely with each technology upgrade.
Industrial wireless access point enclosures designed for Class 1, Division 1, Hazardous Locations, Groups C & D, ATEX Zone 1, and are available for an ever-increasing range of standard access points.
Analynk access point enclosures house specific wireless access points from various manufacturers, making installation simple. Every model comes with UL-listed explosion-proof antennas, mounting brackets custom-tailored for the access point equipment, and RF cables for connecting the antennas. Penetrations in enclosures correspond with the specified access point. Designs accommodate a variety of access points from Symbol, Cisco, Meru, Aruba, HP, and Motorola, with more models added regularly to accommodate additional wireless access points.
The Analynk website contains a list of all wireless access point devices and their companion enclosures. If an access point you want to use isn't on the list, contact Analynk. They may accommodate your requirement with a minor modification to an existing product.
Analynk Wireless is a company that specializes in industrial wireless communications. Analynk welcomes your wireless communication challenges, so get in touch and share your specifications.
