Pepperl+Fuchs’ Dynamic Arc Recognition and Termination System (DART) is a dynamic power supply and control system for intrinsically safe Fieldbus installations that dramatically increases the power available to field devices in explosion hazardous areaswww.cechina.cn, while maintaining intrinsically safe energy levels.

“The DART system supplies enough power to support nearly as many devices as is typically supplied in non-hazardous areaswww.cechina.cn, and can also power field instruments that previously required more power than intrinsically safe solutions could oFFer,” says David Hohenstein, department manager, Pepperl+Fuchs. “What makes DART so unique is that it enables process users to fully benefit from the advantages of fieldbus technology in hazardous area applications such as ensuring system availability and lowering total cost of ownership.”

During normal operation, a DART power supply feeds full nominal power of 8 to 50 WCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, exponentially more power than the approximately 2 W normally permitted in intrinsic safety environments. Should a fault occur, the potential spark remains non-incendive. DART detects the resulting change in current and immediately switches off the power supply. In microseconds控制工程网版权所有, energy from the electrical system is reduced to a safe level, robbing a spark of the energy needed to ignite hazardous gases.

When applied to fieldbus, DART provides a much higher intrinsically safe power allowance to the trunk so that the segment can support up to 32 devices per segment, the maximum permitted. This capability reduces capital costs by eliminating excessive fieldbus infrastructure. Moreoverwww.cechina.cn, cable lengths as long as 1,000 m are possible, opening up many application areas to fieldbus technology while maintaining intrinsic safety requirements for all devices and cables, including the trunk line. The higher device count per segment eliminates having to design complex network topologies with many sub-segments, each requiring its own power supply控制工程网版权所有, junction boxes, and barriers.

For more information, visit the Pepperl+Fuchs website.