In the petrochemical industry, there are a large amount of flammable and explosive gases and dust in the production environment. Once an explosion accident occurs, it will cause huge casualties and property damage. Therefore, it is crucial to choose a suitable explosion-proof industrial switch in the network communication system of the petrochemical industry. This article will provide a detailed introduction to the key factors that need to be considered when selecting explosion-proof industrial switches in the petrochemical industry.
Explosion proof certification
Explosion proof certification is an important standard for measuring whether industrial switches can be safely used in hazardous environments such as petrochemicals. In China, the common explosion-proof certification standards include the GB 3836 series. For example, in the Ex d IIC T6 Gb symbol, "Ex" represents explosion-proof, "d" represents explosion-proof type, "IIC" represents suitable for IIC explosive gas environments (such as hydrogen, which is the most dangerous gas group), "T6" represents the highest surface temperature of the equipment not exceeding 85 ℃ (T6 is the highest temperature group, allowing the lowest surface temperature and higher safety), and "Gb" represents the equipment has a higher protection level and can be used in Zone 1 and Zone 2 hazardous areas.
In the petrochemical industry, industrial switches with Ex d Ⅱ C T6 Gb or higher explosion-proof rating should be prioritized to ensure safe operation even in the harshest hazardous environments.
Protection level
The production environment of petrochemical industry is complex, and industrial switches need to have good protection capabilities to prevent dust, liquids, etc. from entering the equipment and affecting its performance. The protection level is represented by the IP (Ingress Protection) code, such as IP65, where "6" indicates complete dust prevention and "5" indicates prevention of water intrusion from spraying. Direct water spraying in any direction has no harmful effects.
For the petrochemical industry, it is recommended to choose explosion-proof industrial switches with a protection level of IP65 or above. This type of switch can effectively resist dust and water jets from all directions, adapting to complex environments such as outdoor or production areas with washing needs.
Network performance
Port speed
In the petrochemical industry, with the improvement of automation, a large amount of data needs to be transmitted in real-time, such as monitoring data and video surveillance data during the production process. Therefore, the port speed of industrial switches must be sufficiently high. Common port speeds include 100Mbps, 1000Mbps (i.e. 1Gbps), and even 10Gbps. At critical data transmission nodes, industrial switches with port speeds of 1Gbps or higher should be prioritized to ensure fast data transmission and avoid network congestion.
Backplane bandwidth and packet forwarding rate
Backplane bandwidth refers to the maximum amount of data that can be throughput between the switch interface processor or interface card and the data bus, while packet forwarding rate refers to how many data packets the switch can forward per second. These two parameters determine the data processing capability of the switch. Generally speaking, the higher the backplane bandwidth and packet forwarding rate, the better the performance of the switch.
For large-scale networks in the petrochemical industry, it is recommended to choose industrial switches with backplane bandwidth of tens of Gbps or more and packet forwarding rates of hundreds of thousands of pps (packets per second) or more to ensure that the switches can efficiently handle large amounts of data traffic and meet real-time communication needs in the production process.
Redundant design
Power redundancy
In petrochemical production, once the network is interrupted, it may lead to serious production accidents. Therefore, industrial switches need to have power redundancy function to improve system reliability. Dual power redundancy design is a common approach, where industrial switches are equipped with two independent power modules. When one power supply fails, the other power supply can immediately take over the operation, ensuring the normal operation of the switch.
Link redundancy
Link redundancy can automatically switch to a backup link in the event of a network link failure, ensuring network continuity. Industrial switches typically support multiple link redundancy protocols, such as RSTP (Fast Spanning Tree Protocol), ERPS (Ethernet Redundancy Protection Protocol), and so on. Among them, the ERPS protocol can achieve millisecond level link switching, which is very suitable for applications in the petrochemical industry that require high real-time performance. When choosing industrial switches, it should be ensured that they support efficient link redundancy protocols and can meet the topology requirements of actual production networks.
Anti electromagnetic interference capability
There are a large number of electrical equipment in the petrochemical industry, which can generate strong electromagnetic interference during operation. If the anti electromagnetic interference capability of industrial switches is insufficient, data transmission may experience errors or even interruptions. Therefore, when selecting, attention should be paid to the anti electromagnetic interference performance of industrial switches.
Industrial switches demonstrate their anti-interference ability through relevant electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) tests. For example, in accordance with the IEC 61000 series standards, which specify the immunity and emission requirements of electrical equipment in electromagnetic environments. In the petrochemical industry, industrial switches that have passed the relevant rigorous level tests in the IEC 61000-4 series, such as anti-static interference (IEC 61000-4-2), radio frequency electromagnetic field radiation interference (IEC 61000-4-3), and electrical fast transient pulse group interference (IEC 61000-4-4), should be selected to ensure stable operation in complex electromagnetic environments.
Manageability
With the continuous expansion of the network scale of petrochemical enterprises, the requirements for the manageability of industrial switches are also increasing. Industrial switches with good manageability can help network administrators monitor device status in real-time, configure network parameters, diagnose network faults, and improve network operation and maintenance efficiency.
The main manageable methods for industrial switches include web management, CLI (Command Line Interface), SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), etc. The web network management interface is intuitive, easy to operate, and suitable for most network administrators; CLI is suitable for professionals who have a deep understanding of networks and need to perform complex configurations; The SNMP protocol facilitates centralized management of multiple switches through a network management system. When selecting, industrial switches that support appropriate management methods should be chosen based on the enterprise's network management level and actual needs. Meanwhile, switches that support LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol) topology discovery and RMON (Remote Network Monitoring) functionality can help administrators better understand the network topology and operational status, and are also important considerations when selecting.
The selection of explosion-proof industrial switches in the petrochemical industry requires comprehensive consideration of multiple key factors such as explosion-proof certification, protection level, network performance, redundancy design, electromagnetic interference resistance, and manageability. Only by choosing the appropriate industrial switch can we ensure the security, stability, and efficiency of network communication in the petrochemical production process, providing strong guarantees for the safe production and efficient operation of enterprises. In the actual selection process, it is recommended that enterprises communicate fully with professional industrial switch suppliers, and make the most suitable choice based on their own production environment and network requirements.