An Excellent White Paper for Understanding Wireless Networking in Hazardous Areas
A potentially explosive atmosphere exists when a gas, vapor, mist, or dust, alone or in combination, occurs in situations where it may ignite under specific conditions. A "hazardous" or "classified" area are places with highly combustible atmospheres that are potentially explosive.
Local and international regulations exist to minimize the risk posed in explosive atmospheres by the energy contained in and required by operating networks and IoT products. A gradual harmonization of these regulations continues to be structured and defined by the IEC and European and US standards.
Industry associations and standards bodies continue to work together to resolve classifying explosive materials and establish standards for the safe operation of networking equipment and IIoT (Industrial Things Internet) products in hazardous areas. Because different organizations perform the work in other areas, understanding which criteria are applicable under different conditions can be difficult.
Aruba Networks has been at the forefront of wireless networking in industrial environments. Their white paper entitled "BUILT TO BLAST: Industrial Internet of Things Hazardous Environment Infrastructure" discusses the various types of dangers, criteria, and conditions that need to be considered before deploying wireless network infrastructure in explosive environments. You can download the white paper here.
The growth of connected industrial IoT devices moves in unison with initiatives to improve operations, maximize efficiency, allow better inventory management, and enhance plant safety. Understanding the unique requirements of wireless networking and communications in hazardous areas is critical. If you have questions about applying wireless networking and instrumentation in hazardous areas, feel free to contact Analynk Wireless. Check out their website at https://analynk.com for contact information.
The Economic Argument of Using Hazardous Area Access Point Enclosures
Many chemical, food processing, refining, mining, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical applications need high-performance Wi-Fi access in potentially explosive environments. Whether it's device telemetry, network access, site-to-site networking, or unified communications, these applications demand the highest Wi-Fi performance possible in the harshest environments.
Some Wi-Fi access points are designed for direct use in explosive conditions without an external protective enclosure. Others are intended for use in non-explosive environments and controlled within a specialized housing specified for that use. The former approach is cost-effective when the underlying technology that drives the equipment is developed, reliable, and unlikely to need an upgrade for years; IoT velocity, positioning, pressure, and temperature sensors fall into that class.
The latter solution – using an outer enclosure – is the most realistic as the underlying wireless technology is rapidly evolving. That's because an explosion-proof enclosure's purchase and installation costs can reflect 4 to 20 times the access point's price. Swapping the access point out, leaving the protective enclosure intact, is significantly less costly than installing a brand new enclosure for some technology upgrades.
The Wi-Fi industry has changed from 802.11n to 802.11ac Wave 1 to 802.11ac Wave 2 in under ten years. Just as no consumer will purchase a new truck based on a 10-year-old design, nor will they consider installing technology-based 802.11n access points from 2007. They will at least use 802.11ac Wave 1, particularly in industrial environments, due to the outstanding multipath performance of 802.11ac in metal presence.
Using standard amortization rates, a consumer wanting to keep up-to-date with the new Wi-Fi technology will upgrade equipment approximately once every four years. If we believe that an access point designed for harsh environments has a list price of $1,500, and with the related Class 1 Division 2 enclosure may list for $3,500. The installation alone (excluding the set-up and commissioning of access points) costs $2,500. In this scenario, buyers can save $4,500 for each access point technology switch when mounting in a hazardous area access point enclosure.
For more information about hazardous area wireless access point enclosures, contact Analynk by calling (614) 755-5091 or visit their website at https://analynk.com.
The Analynk AP427 Dual-Band Hazardous Area Access Point Enclosure for Ubiquiti UAP-AC-M
THE AP427 HAZARDOUS AREA ENCLOSURE HOUSES THE UBIQUITI UAP-AC-M DUAL BAND ACCESS POINT FOR USE IN THE HAZARDOUS AREAS.
The AP427 is designed to house the Ubiquiti UAP-AC-M dual band access point for use in hazardous areas. The enclosure, all hardware, and antennas are rated for Class I, Div 1, groups C & D Hazardous Locations. All hardware, mounting plate, antennas and RF cables are provided to make installation of the access point quick and easy. The enclosure utilizes our proprietary explosion proof CTX series of antennas, two dual band 2.4GHz/5GHz are included.
For more information, contact Analynk Wireless.
(614) 755-5091
8 Major Application Considerations for Industrial Wireless Networks
The laws of physics limit wireless networks. These laws set the boundaries of how much information can be transmitted. Presented below are some key challenges of a wireless communication system.
1 - Wireless Range
The constraints on wireless radio wave transmission are the physical distance, obstacles, and fundamental wavelengths. Obstacles such as metal and concrete severely attenuate radio waves. Higher frequency systems generally have better throughput performance but with less range than systems operating in the lower frequency bands.
2 - Wireless Channel Bandwidth
Wireless communications systems transmit information over finite resources within the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. EM spectrum is a limited natural resource divided according to the laws and regulations.
3 - Information Data Rate (Bandwidth)
Bandwidth is defined in terms of bits per second and constrained by the communications channel's physics. Realizable bandwidth rarely meets the advertised data rates as channel conditions introduce error. Competition for the channel by other devices on the wireless network creates a delay in channel access.
4 - Latency
In any communication system, transmitting and receiving data takes time. A software program must provide data for transmission, format, modulate, and share it in a wireless device. The electromagnetic waves then take time to spread through space at the speed of light, ultimately arriving at the receiver. Additional time is then required to detect the signal, reconstruct the signal into valid information, and finally deliver it to the client software application. Latency is defined as the actualized duration of information transmission from one application to another within an industrial control system.
5 - Scalability
A wireless network is designed to support a certain number of devices. Scale is an essential factor of industrial wireless networks as it influences the amount of time expected for devices to utilize the finite resources of the wireless channel. Some wireless systems, such as WirelessHART employ scheduling to assure channel availability.
6 - Wireless Security
Security within any industrial wireless deployment, mainly those considered mission-critical, should always be considered in conjunction with the wireless network design and application goals. Security holistically addresses data confidentiality, integrity, and availability issues. Unlike a traditional office setting, data integrity and availability in industrial networks are more significant concerns. For most modern wireless networks, strong encryption is available and should be used inside the factory. To ensure wireless device authentication, authentication protocols should be used to verify access. Wireless networks are also vulnerable to transmission attacks, such as jamming. In mission-critical systems, wireless network isolation is recommended by frequency and distance.
7 - System Availability
The ability of a wireless network to support its intended operation is referred to as system availability. This is typically defined in terms of a percentage availability, such as 99.99%, for which it will stay operational. Attention should be placed on the robustness of devices within the network.
8 - Harsh Industrial Environments
The physical environment usually impacts wireless communications with the presence of obstructions, reflections, and scattering. Such effects lead to multipath transmissions that may not have a direct line-of-sight (LOS) element at times. Industrial environments are more electrically noisy than office and home environments and present far more wireless transmission obstructions and disturbances. Moveable metal items such as forklifts and cranes, narrow aisles between metal shelves, and liquid tanks that can alternate propagation features are examples of this harsh environment. Moreover, depending on the frequency of the produced noise, electrical noise may affect wireless transmissions. Motors and solenoids provide examples of low-frequency noise sources. Arc-generating equipment can make higher-frequency electrical noise.
For wireless transmitters, repeaters, transmitters, antennas, and hazardous area access point enclosures, contact Analynk Wireless by calling (614) 755-5091 or visiting their website at https://analynk.com.
The Analynk AP426 Dual-Band Hazardous Area Access Point Enclosure for the Fortinet FAP-223 Access Point
The AP426 hazardous area enclosure houses the Fortinet FAP-223E dual band access point for use in the hazardous areas.
The enclosure and antennas are designed for use in Class I, Division 1 group C & D areas. All hardware, mounting plate, antennas and RF cables are provided to make installation quick and easy. The enclosure utilizes our proprietary explosion proof CTX series of antennas and includes four 2.4GHz/5GHz dual band antennas. The access point is not included with the enclosure.
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