In most large refineries and fuel depot sites, process and safety monitoring requirements fit together seamlessly. The site can often be accessed at many points, by water or by land as the case may be. Filling and removal processes are decentralised, which means they are carried out at various points in the site. Nevertheless, operating procedures are often only controlled and coordinated from a central control room. If information about what is happening on site is important, an on-site inspection or maintenance tour can hardly be avoided. Last but not least, operational safety regulations increase the operators’ responsibility and thus their safety requirements.

Safety technology in hazardous areas – eyes and ears in the field

Access control systems, cameras, intercom systems, and loudspeakers are all integral parts of industrial plants. However, if equipment or plant sections need to be installed in areas with potentially explosive atmospheres, even experienced project engineers can be pushed to their limit. On the one hand, the range of equipment available for hazardous areas is limited, and on the other hand strict rules must be observed when setting up installations in hazardous areas.

Possible uses and advantages of SAMCON camera systems

• The ExCam series only needs a single system cable. This means that only one cable has to be laid for the power supply, control signal, and image signal. Not only does this save material, but it also lowers the installation costs.
• Thanks to its variofocal lens, the ExCam vario video camera can be securely focused on an object. The incidence of light is regulated by a DC iris. The image signal can be integrated into any desired video management system, whether its digital or analogue!
• Cameras of the ExCam miniZoom and ExCam niteZoom series are fitted with a motorised zoom objective. The ExCam niteZoom has even more possible uses: with a light requirement of just 0.0004 lux, it is the most light-sensitive camera of its size, and thus perfect for daytime or night-time uses.
• With the ExConnection Rail series, cameras, loudspeakers, or microphones can be connected and digitalised in hazardous areas, regardless of whether they use copper, FOC cables or WLAN signals.
• Both camera systems and Connection Rails use open standard interfaces to collect data, and can thus easily be incorporated into existing systems.

Process monitoring – making decentralised processes centrally visible

Only very few fuel depots or refineries are supplied through direct pipelines. Often, substances are transported by tanker truck, train, or ship. The same applies to transporting the final product away. Strict rules are established for filling and removal procedures in order to ensure that safety and environmental protection requirements are met. Nevertheless, it can be necessary to monitor these processes on-site, and intervene to correct them if necessary.

• All equipment in the ExCam series is fitted with DR irises and can thus adapt perfectly to changing light conditions.
• With the ExCam miniZoom and ExCam niteZoom, which are fitted with a motorised zoom, the slit can be changed at any time by the operator, which means he can decide whether to show a detailed or overview image.
• The long-range model of the ExCam vario video camera or the ConnectionRail series ensure that distance problems are solved and signals can be transmitted over any distance desired.
• Record important incidents so that it is possible to reconstruct what happened “live” – even after the event.
• A direct connection to hazardous areas can be established from the control room via microphones, louspeakers, or headsets, for example to correct processes on–site or communicate with a team.
• Let cameras make decisions: using motion detectors, SAMCON video servers or Connection Rails can notify the operator that a tanker ship is docking or a tanker truck driving up.