The 4B Group has launched a Distributed Hazard Monitoring Solution (DHMS), featuring the IE-GuardFlex.
The IE-GuardFlex control unit connects and monitors sensors across multiple machines using 4B’s advanced IE-Node technology.
This robust system can be configured for multiple machines, IE-Nodes, and sensors, directly interfacing with machine control centres to initiate shutdowns upon detecting potential risks.
Ideal for central control rooms and “non-hazardous areas,” the IE-GuardFlex connects to IE-Nodes in “at-risk zones” via industrial CAT6 Ethernet cables.
Monitored machinery includes bucket elevators, enclosed and open conveyors, chain conveyors, rollers, and more. ATEX-certified sensors connected to local IE-Nodes monitor critical conditions like belt slip (SlipSwitch, Milli-Speed), belt misalignment (TouchSwitch, Bulldog), bearing temperatures (ADB, Milli-Temp), vibration (Milli-Vib), and blockages (Binswitch).
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Engineers can easily locate and configure nodes using the intuitive 7” colour touchscreen interface. The system supports up to three different alarm/stop configurations per sensor, with output relays assignable to alarm and/or stop conditions per sensor or per machine. Common alarm/stop relays indicate alarms or stops across any connected sensor.
4B Group CTO for electronic, Sam Payne, said the IE-GuardFlex system has been developed to empower facility engineering and maintenance staff to implement a comprehensive, de-centralised hazard monitoring system, using the simple and intuitive programming interface.
“This eliminates the need to implement the hazard monitoring system into the plant process control system/PLC and hence means there is no special PLC programming software required, no need for specialist and expensive control system engineers, no additional PLC capacity and SCADA tags and no plant disruption during implementation,” Payne said.
“Separating the plant control and hazard monitoring systems also provides an extra layer of redundancy and reliability.”