In a Crouse-Hinds series MTL FISCO fieldbus network, the entire field circuit Ð including the trunk and all spurs - is intrinsically safe. The fieldbus power supply includes an intrinsic safety barrier and provides conditioned power to the fieldbus segment in the hazardous area. The fieldbus instruments, together with the power supply and any associated wiring components, must be certified as intrinsic safety apparatus and must comply with FISCO requirements. The field instruments may be located in a Zone 0 or 1, IIC or IIB hazardous area, depending on the certification of the individual components.
FISCO enjoys the benefits of any intrinsically safe instrumentation circuit. These advantages include the ability to live-work in the hazardous area without Ògas clearanceÓ, for example to add or remove a fieldbus instrument while the bus is energised in the presence of a flammable atmosphere. This is critical for Foundation fieldbus installations because field instruments need to be connected to a live network in order to establish communication with the host control system.
For easy integration with DCS Fieldbus Interface Modules (FIMs), we can supply trmination boards that use the DCS client system interconnect cables. These support up to four power supplies and have built-in segment terminators.
Users wanting to connect to entity-only certified devices please refer to our spur connector range.