Honeywell Analytics today introduced a comprehensive gas and fire monitoring system anchored by FM NFPA72 certified fire alarm control panels (models XLS3000 and XLS140-2) that centralize and integrate process controls and safety field devices seamlessly into a larger plant-wide safety program, offering enhanced safety, efficiency, productivity and operational cost-savings for the oil and gas industry.
The flexible and comprehensive approach combines hazardous-area fire, smoke, flame, and gas with safe-area safety and process control systems.
“Creating a link between a plant’s life safety system and its other safety systems via the XLS3000 or the XLS140-2 offers significant business advantages,” said Kevin McKeigue, Senior Marketing Manager for Honeywell Analytics’ Fixed gas detection. “This approach eliminates the need for multiple safety systems within a plant environment allowing for one installation and maintenance team to take care of the entire system. In addition, current plant safety elements, like a plant-wide annunciation system, can be quickly integrated and used for the entire plant. Reduced maintenance and capital costs are a huge plus, but customers also get the added benefits of enhanced safety, reliability, productivity and performance resulting from a proven FM NFPA72 certified system.”
The system’s central point of integration is either the XLS3000 or the XLS140-2 fire alarm control panel. The primary difference between the two panels is the XLS3000 communicates with all devices on a 4-20mA loop, while the XLS140-2 inputs are relay-driven. Both panels are FM NFPA72 certified to operate with fire, smoke and flame detectors; fire suppression systems; emergency shutdown systems; horns and beacons; video surveillance equipment and more. Both panels have already been put to good use by several Fortune 500 oil and gas companies and chemical plants, where they have proven themselves as a standalone system or a fully addressable system networkable to an installed base of up to 2540 field devices and a PLC, SCADA or other higher control system.
Both the XLS3000 and XLS140-2 supports the full range of Honeywell gas monitors and flame detectors; including the XNX universal transmitter, FAAST aspirating smoke/particulate detector, Searchpoint Optima Plus point infrared combustible gas detector, Searchline Excel open-path combustible gas detector, and the FD Series flame detectors.
The integrated gas and fire monitoring solution will serve a wide range of demanding upstream to downstream applications in emerging Greenfield and Brownfield oil and gas projects, said McKeigue. “Safety standards such as NFPA 72 are becoming increasingly tougher across the board in regulating how field devices and systems perform in relation to each other on a plant-wide basis. The XLS3000 and XLS140-2, along with related system components, will help move customers beyond safety compliance toward the larger goal of improved business performance resulting from a unified, holistic system design.”