Tough environments challenge equipment

Dec 1, 1999 12:00 PM, ACCESS CONTROL & SECURITY SYSTEMS INTEGRATION STAFF

Extreme environmental conditions can be a challenge for paging and safety communications systems. This article will describe some equipment applications from around the world.

When the going gets tough The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Plant, Topeka, Kan., stays busy year-round manufacturing tires for earth-mover and industrial equipment. Fires can flare up within the hot environment, and a fine carbon dust from the manufacturing process often settles inside the plant. A Stento Alphacom Intercom system provides both normal paging and emergency communications and a two-way radio interface to serve the 1,900 employees that work in the plant. The overhead paging system is connected to the evacuation system for additional coverage. The system can be interfaced with software to allow remote configuration and customization.

Around the world away at the lowest point on earth - 400 meters below sea level - the Dead Sea Works Ltd., Beersheba, Israel, has been mining the mineral-rich Dead Sea since 1931. With ample sunlight for most of the year, the chemical product manufacturer combines the intense solar heat and energy with solar evaporation pans that cover more than 105 square kilometers. Dead Sea water is pumped into these pans, and the natural evaporation process precipitates a variety of chemical salts including sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium chloride. Product applications are found around the world in fertilizer manufacture, abrasives production, sewage treatment, sugar refining, oil drilling, and ice and dust control.

Working in the highly corrosive, hot and salty environment of the Dead Sea region, the plant's 1,300 employees rely on communications systems for emergency and evacuation announcements as well as paging and group calls. Installed in the magnesium factory are two connected Stento Alphacom exchanges with 150 industrial wall and desk stations in use. Each station is specially treated for use in the corrosive surroundings and uses a 20-watt horn speaker.

Amplifiers used for group calls and public address are located in the office buildings.

Heavy dust, loud machinery The largest cement plant in Israel - the Nesher Cement Factory, Ramle, Israel - employs 700 people working in an atmosphere of heavy dust, loud machinery and heavy equipment operation. A similar Stento communications system is employed. The plant also uses two Stento Control Room Master III units, which are compact, desktop intercoms with digital display and programmable direct-access buttons. The intercoms are housed in a special box developed by Matmor Communication Systems Ltd., Israel, with a spring-hinge to keep out as much dust and dirt out as possible.

One of the largest and newest power plants in Israel, the Rutenberg Plant in Ashkelon, Israel, employs approximately 700 people amid the humid and salty air in the coastal area of the Mediterranean Sea. Heavy equipment and machinery run constantly, and dust is frequently in the air. Four Stento Alphacom systems are connected together, serving 400 intercom stations. Six Control Room Master III units are used for group calls, emergency evacuation announcements and paging. This plant has also interfaced the Alphacom systems with a amplification system of its own design.

Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

This month in Access Control

• Targeting The Customer
• Electronic Pedigrees
• One Hero Among Many
• Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• More from September's issue