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New BSI standard encourages facilities maintenance professionals to mitigate risk
Dr Brian Atkin, Director of The Facilities Society and principal expert involved in the drafting of BS 8210:2012, urges organisations to take a best practice approach using this new standard to address the challenges of modern buildings and ensure the effective implementation of maintenance strategies. Facilities management owes much of its existence to building maintenance management, which continues to form a significant part of the workload of the FM sector. The publication of BS 8210:2012 Guide to facilities maintenance management provides guidance on how to achieve successful maintenance outcomes for a range of facilities. This new standard completely replaces the original 1986 standard on building maintenance management....
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The use of 4-20mA indicators in hazardous areas
Loop powered indicators have been used in intrinsically safe systems for some time, but ‘nA’ indicators which are non-sparking devices that may be installed in Zone 2, are less common. This article considers both types, but gives more attention to the less established ‘nA’ indicators which may be used to display the 4-20mA current flowing in hazardous area loops protected by any technique apart from intrinsic safety. The basic operation of the majority of these indicators is illustrated by Figure 1. (Place cursor on image for caption) The operation of the indicator can be simply explained as follows: the 4-20mA current flows through the resistor R1 and the forward biased diode D1. The...
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Selecting the right control and monitoring system for hazardous environments
Control and monitoring is particularly critical for oil and gas refineries and petrochemical plants, where even the slightest uncontrolled increase in temperature could lead to an explosion. Any control and monitoring products used in these areas should be high quality and designed specifically for that purpose. In the European market, this means complying with stringent ATEX regulations. A world of choice Controlling a heat-tracing circuit can be as simple as a mechanical thermostat. However, in larger, more complex environments such as refineries or chemical plants, more sophisticated control and monitoring requirements are necessary. With a variety of options available, plant...
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