ATEX Zone 1 certified wireless condition monitoring system
14 October 2011
John Crane UK has introduced a wireless condition monitoring system for rotating equipment and associated machinery in difficult or hazardous environments. Building on the company’s experience in remote monitoring technologies, the new DART 1 wireless monitoring system provides operators with the accurate and reliable information they require to make informed decisions about plant and machinery conditions.
The ATEX Zone 1 certified DART 1 system can be used in numerous hazardous area applications. Machinery located inside platform legs can be monitored round–the-clock without the need for personnel to enter the area themselves; while critical equipment mounted inside enclosures can be assessed without the need for access, or for safety systems to be overridden. Even normally inaccessible equipment such as fin fans, pedestal cranes or unmanned installations can be monitored easily and reliably.
The DART 1 system combines a series of battery-powered sensor nodes and a gateway facility with proprietary John Crane software. Each sensor node is a wireless data acquisition and processing system which can be configured to take detailed measurements, at user-defined intervals, on the performance of the equipment being monitored.
The sensors then carry out significant onboard signal processing which reduces the amount of data that needs to be sent back to the gateway unit over the wireless link. This enables each DART 1 sensor node to operate for up to 8 years between battery changes. The wireless method of operation reduces both the cost and time required for installation, and multiple sensor nodes can transmit data back to one gateway unit. They can also act as wireless routers which allow data to be ‘multi-hop’ transmitted, wirelessly, over larger distances than would otherwise be possible.
The DART 1 system can be accessed remotely and securely via the internet, allowing the condition of machinery to be monitored from any location in the world using just a standard computer. The system is virtually maintenance-free, can be configured to provide data for third-party systems and set to turn off automatically and ensure radio silence when required.
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