Emerson has released for sale a new energy-limiting fiber optic switch that for the first time permits fiber optic cable to be used in Zone 1 areas without protective sheathing. The Single Port Fiber Optic Switch is certified by KEMA to limit the energy in the cable so that a potential cable break is safe in Zone 1 and Class 1 Division 2 (C1D2) environments. The new Ethernet switch is DIN rail mounted, uses 24 VDC power, is equipped with a single fiber optic port, and four 10/100 MB TX Ethernet connections. The port can is used with the new DeltaV™ Zone1 I/O scanner and can be used independently of the DeltaV system to route Ethernet safely through Zone 1 or C1D2 areas.
"This product was developed to reduce the cost of installing fiber optic cabling in our customers' Zone 1 areas," said Gary Law, DeltaV system product manager. “This is the first of a family of similar fiber optic products that will address Zone 1 and C1D2 issues.” The fiber optic switch is designed it to the same G3 environmental specs as the DeltaV product so it can be mounted in Zone 2 or C1D2 environments.
Since it doesn’t use the DeltaV backplane, pairs of these switches can be used wherever fiber optic cable needs to be routed to or through Zone 1 or C1D2 locations.For more information visit www.emersonprocess.com
