Fieldbus wiring hubs reduce network costs

01 June 2012

MTL Instruments, a division of Cooper Crouse-Hinds, has released the F300 series of Megablock wiring hubs for fieldbus applications.

The unit is designed for general purpose, Zone 2 and Division 2 hazardous area applications where the high energy trunk can be powered by a range of fieldbus power supplies and the ability to conduct live maintenance - such as replacement of field devices in hazardous areas is desirable.

Live connection and disconnection of fieldbus spurs without a gas clearance certificate is allowed with Ex ic and non-incendive field devices but, where live-working of the spurs is not required, Ex d (flameproof) or Ex nA (normally non-sparking) field devices can be used.

The F300 features a pluggable Trunk In/Out connector allowing replacement of a Megablock without breaking the trunk connection to other devices on the fieldbus segment. The compact F97 terminator can be mounted in the Trunk out connection to provide termination when the Megablock is located at the end of the fieldbus segment. It can be removed when the segment is extended, ensuring correct termination.

Megablocks minimise hand wiring and allow individual devices to be added to and removed from the segment without disrupting network communication. The pluggable connectors are screw secured.

The F300 Series Megablocks form part of the new FieldPlus brand initiative from MTL that is designed to make fieldbus component selection as easy as possible based on the network architecture being employed.