Pepperl+Fuchs F25 Position Sensor Used on Offshore Oil Rigs

BESI Marine Systems GmbH, headquartered in Bremen, Germany, is a globally recognized manufacturer of Flow Management Systems that are used in marine applications world-wide. BESI designs and manufactures customer-specific solutions using their own drives, fittings and control units supplemented by high quality components from other BESI approved suppliers.

To equip an offshore oil rig with hydraulic drives based on a simple acting principle (See Fig. 1.), the company wanted to use a non-contact valve position sensor system designed to be intrinsically safe. The drives are specifically designed for each application. The position sensor is mounted into a robust metal enclosure to enable the system to withstand the harsh off shore service conditions.

The customer selected the Pepperl+Fuchs model PL3-F25-N4-K sensor. The NCN3-F25-N4 is a double NAMUR sensor pre-mounted onto a circuit board. The electrical connections to the cable clamps are integrated into the circuit board. The circuit board has an opening in the middle to accept the model BT-F25-0 activator. The complete sensor system is Atex Category 2G (Zone 1) approved.

Together with the BT-F25-0 activator, this sensor system represents the optimum solution for the application. The system is delivered ready for easy cable installation to the sensor (See Fig. 2 and Fig. 3). No additional wire clamps or terminals are required. In addition to the valve position sensor, the hydraulic control connection is located on the hydraulic drive and can be controlled by a magnetically operated valve located in the switchgear cabinet.