Oil and gas environment applications – including valve actuators, down-hole drilling equipment, deep-sea ROVs, and sea-bed installations – require a vast range of position sensing solutions. The common requirement for each application is safe and reliable operation in harsh conditions. Celera Motion custom inductive position sensors are robust and can be ATEX rated, intrinsically-safe for operation in potentially explosive environments, such as oil and gas applications.

The Challenge

Offshore oil and gas extraction can pose significant challenges for automation. Bad outcomes, such as the failure of shut down valves, or blowout preventers (BOP), can lead to costly production downtimes or worse – widespread environmental and economic damage. Valve actuators, valve monitoring, and diagnostic systems utilize robust angle encoders. These sensors are used in a variety of on-shore, off-shore, subsea, and downstream applications for the oil and gas sector including:

These systems must be designed with safety at the core – reliant on robust and reliable position sensing technology, designed and manufactured to strict ATEX requirements for use in potentially explosive environments. Other technical requirements in oil and gas environment applications may include:

The Solution

Celera Motion’s robust and reliable inductive encoder technology is well suited for use in valve diagnostics. Working with our clients through an engineer-to-engineer approach, we developed bespoke sensor designs to meet exact application requirements. A custom sensor module can provide precise, intelligent control, and diagnostics to plant operators working in ATEX environments. The intrinsically safe (ATEX/IECEX Ex ia) inductive angle encoder circuit can fit a specific profiled mechanical form factor for assembly into a suitable corrosion-resistant enclosure. The sensor shares the same robust, temperature-stable measurement principles as a resolver or RVDT, but bulky windings are replaced by printed conductive tracks contained in a slim laminar construction.

The electrical interface features an open hybrid digital and analogue HART protocol, widely used in petrochemical industries due to its backwards compatibility with traditional 4-20mA analog instrumentation. The sensor features a simple push-button control with a mechanical indicator to configure the full-scale angle measurement range in-situ for rapid setup. Combined, these interfaces enable operators to diagnose issues both locally and remotely.

The Benefit

Celera Motion’s robust, custom ATEX rated inductive encoders, provide critically safe position measurement in valve automation and communication systems. These inductive position sensors are proven to deliver reliable precision angle measurement in extreme environments. The compact and specific form factor design seamlessly integrates into critical fail-safe systems, such as valve control systems, saving installation time and cost.

ATEX Certification Ex ia
IP Rating IP68
Measurement Range 10-100°
Resolution > 1000 points over full scale