HMIs and Thin Clients operate in hazardous environments.
Press Release Summary:
Manufactured for petroleum refineries and industrial plants, Remote Touchscreen HMIs and Thin Clients are approved for Class 1, Div 2 and Zone 2 use. Units are nonincendive, non-sparking, and hermetically sealed, ensuring that electrical safety standards and regulations are satisfied. With local and remote monitoring capabilities, HMIs empower mobile operators with web and wireless capabilities to perform rounds more efficiently.
Original Press Release:
AIS Hazardous Area HMIs Drive Refinery Performance and Reliability, While Reducing Maintenance and Regulatory Compliance Costs
Class 1 Division 2 Zone 2 Panel PC Optimizes Operators’ Efficiency and Reliability During Inspection Activity, Minimizes Downtime, and Improves Environmental Performance
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA — American Industrial Systems, Inc. (AIS), is pleased to announce availability of their new Hazardous Area HMIs and Thin Clients manufactured for petroleum refineries and industrial plants. As refineries convert crude through distillation and chemical reactions into a variety of valuable fuels and lubricants for downstream applications, they need digital control and monitoring equipment to replace manual operator processes. AIS panel PCs are specifically engineered to help oil and gas operators improve plant performance and reliability, improve operator reliability and safety, reduce operational costs and support compliance to environmental regulations. Approved for Class 1, Div 2 and Zone 2 use, AIS Nonincendive, Non-sparking, Hermetically-sealed, Remote Touch Screen HMI Panels also ensure that electrical safety standards and regulations are satisfied. Moreover, AIS remote HMIs comply with the ATEX directive and the Zone 2 range and are UL and CSA certified.
AIS HMIs Help Petroleum Refineries Address Key Challenges
Refineries and industrial plants face production and operational costs and regulatory related issues that have an adverse effect on their profitability. Supply-related performance requirements and increasing environmental regulations for emissions and fuel compositions, has made them evaluate current production systems and operations, specifically in the area of control and monitoring of equipment. AIS has both the certified product offering for hazardous locations and extensive global expertise in the oil and gas industry needed to improve production and environmental performance in refinery and other downstream operations.
Hazardous Area HMI Technology Leads Efficiency Enhancements and Profitability
HMI technologies for petroleum plants have been gaining acceptance in refining facilities as operators and contractors realize the many benefits that AIS panel PCs have to offer. AIS panel PCs are designed for hazardous areas that improve operational efficiency and performance, most significantly in the areas of refinery unit monitoring and diagnostics. With local and remote monitoring capabilities, AIS HMIs empower mobile operators with web and wireless capabilities to perform rounds more efficiently, allowing for better collaboration between field operators and control room operators. Operators can also identify potential problems which were previously neglected, thus avoiding the need for any emergency intervention. Predictive instead of reactive maintenance on equipment leads to reduced costs and downtime.
Improving Refinery Equipment Availability and Personnel Reliability Reduces Costs
The proximity of the plants to inhabited areas makes it essential for the sites to be safe and reliable at all times. Reliability is the ability of a person or system to perform and maintain its functions in routine circumstances. For mobile operators at an oil and gas or pipeline monitoring facility, AIS touch-screens are easy to use and allow operators to maximize performance, thereby helping the refinery run their equipment assets at maximum levels of productivity. The typical refinery is not electronically monitored and needs field operators to perform both visual and auditory checks of pumps, valves, pipes, casings, and other mechanical equipment. Field operators have traditionally used pencils and clipboards to record information, and then later enter this data into a spreadsheet or database for trending and analysis. But often these after-the-fact entries are sometimes too tardy to effect changes that could reduce equipment failures or mitigate negative environmental and safety incidents. AIS HMIs have allowed the operational procedures for visual inspection of equipment to be optimized and standardized, thanks to the removal of paper reports and the intuitive nature of the handheld devices.
Intrinsically Safe HMIs Help Refineries Meet Increasing Regulatory Compliance
Resource conservation and recovery act (RCRA) enacted in 1976 regulates solid wastes, hazardous wastes and underground storage tanks and air for refineries. The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) is concerned with protection against risks from fire, explosion and similar events arising from dangerous substances used or present in the workplace. They set minimum requirements for the protection of workers from fire and explosion risks related to dangerous substances and potentially explosive atmospheres and require employers to control the risks to the safety of employees and others from fire and explosions. Complying with new and existing government regulations consume resources. Efficiency and productivity are the keys to success for refineries. Advances in digital control and monitoring and intrinsically safe technology from AIS are enabling the refiners to proactively manage these efforts and eliminate expensive measures for additional certifications or environmental approvals.
About AIS
Headquartered in Irvine, California, USA, American Industrial Systems, Inc. (AIS) offers in-house electronic and mechanical design, software development, manufacturing, production and quality control services. Offering one of the widest ranges of Industrial Computing solutions, AIS solutions are available in a multitude of configurations for Industrial, Oil & Gas, Military and Marine applications. The company is fully committed to empowering, improving and delivering turnkey HMI, monitoring and display solutions for OEM, ODM and end-user customers. AIS is an ISO 9001:2008 certified supplier and manufacturer of rugged computers and displays, and received completion of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) registration from the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC). For more information, visit: www.aispro.com, email: sales@aispro.com or contact: 1-888-485-6688.
Media Relations Contact:
American Industrial Systems, Inc.
Santiago Consunji
Business Development and Marketing Manager
949-681-7463
santiago.consunji@aispro.com
