Refining
Phillips 66's Lake Charles refinery at Westlake was built in 1941, covers 690 acres and has a crude throughput of 264,000 barrels a day. CITGO is also listed as a major employer in the Lake Charles area.
Lake Charles lies on the Calcasieu Ship Channel in south-west Louisiana and combines refining, chemicals and LNG export. Zone 1 and Zone 21 areas arise at refinery process units, chemical plants and liquefaction trains in and around the city. Distribution partners for Lake Charles, Louisiana are being identified ahead of the Q4 2026 launch of the IS-04Z1.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. Lake Charles, Louisiana has no appointed SAMS distributor yet: the IS-04Z1 is pre-launch (certification in progress, no certificate issued, launch planned for Q4 2026), and distributor applications are open.
Where things stand: the IS-04Z1 has not launched, and none of its four certification routes has produced a certificate yet. A buyer's engineering review is separate from the certificate. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Ex marking | Group, category, protection concept, gas group, temperature class | II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4 (target) |
| Gas group | IIA, IIB or IIC matched to the area drawing | IIC (target) |
| Temperature class | T-class below the ignition temperature of the gas | T4, 135 °C (target) |
| Where it applies | Lake Charles, Louisiana: LNG liquefaction trains, LNG storage and ship loading, Refinery process units | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Lake Charles Louisiana. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
Who operates there and which kinds of classified area a handset would meet, from the SAMS site research.
Phillips 66's Lake Charles refinery at Westlake was built in 1941, covers 690 acres and has a crude throughput of 264,000 barrels a day. CITGO is also listed as a major employer in the Lake Charles area.
Cameron LNG at Hackberry has three trains of about 12 mtpa and reached full commercial operations in August 2020. Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass (10 mtpa nameplate, Cameron Parish) began commercial operations on 16 April 2025.
Refinery capacities listed for the area are about 471,000 barrels a day at the Citgo refinery, about 264,000 at the Phillips 66 refinery at Westlake and about 136,000 at Calcasieu Refining.
Chennault International Airport hosts aircraft maintenance businesses, and the Amtrak Sunset Limited stops in the city, but most freight reaches the plants by road, rail and the ship channel.
The city was founded in 1861 and grew from a lumber economy, and today it is regarded as a significant centre of petrochemical refining, tourism and education.
The Lake Charles LNG terminal, just southwest of the city, is one of the few US terminals with facilities for LNG receipt, storage and regasification.
“Ex-proof” is shorthand for equipment carrying an explosion-protection marking (the Ex mark) that matches the area it enters. The marking states the protection concept, gas or dust group and temperature class, and it must be backed by a certificate issued by a recognised body, so a phone described as Ex-proof should come with a certificate number you can check.
The IS-04Z1 is designed to carry the marking II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4. That is a target: certification is in progress, no certificate has been issued, and SAMS will publish the certificate numbers when they exist.
In Lake Charles, Louisiana. A marking check at an LNG liquefaction train or ship-loading area would look at zone, gas group and temperature class against the operator's drawings. The target for the IS-04Z1 is II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4, intended for Zone 1 gas. LNG and refinery gases are hydrocarbon-based, so the operator confirms which group applies.
Distribution of the IS-04Z1 is by authorised partners only, and SAMS has not yet granted a territory for Lake Charles, Louisiana. Each application is reviewed on its merits. Because opening a certified Ex handset in an ordinary workshop invalidates its certificate, the partner must be able to support and service the device locally.
Not yet. The IS-04Z1 is pre-launch and its certification is still in progress ahead of a Q4 2026 launch. No unit goes into a classified area before the certificate covering it exists. The datasheet, the certification schedule and safe-area evaluation units are available now.
SAMS has not published a price. Any figure you are offered for an uncertified Ex phone should be treated with caution; written indicative pricing is available for a defined quantity and site.
The marking target is II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4. It becomes a marking only when the certificate is issued; until then it is a design target.
Likely candidates are refinery process units, chemical plant units, lng liquefaction trains, lng storage and ship loading. Which areas are classified, and to what zone, is set by the site operator's own area classification drawings.
Apply through the distributor page with your company details and the territory you cover. SAMS reviews applications company by company and has not yet granted a territory for Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Yes, the area has a large industrial workforce and technical training through McNeese State University and Sowela, plus large contractors such as Turner Industries. Most operators still require site induction and safety orientation before any outside party can work.
Refineries, petrochemical plants and LNG facilities along the Calcasieu Ship Channel are the main classified environments, with Citgo, Phillips 66, Westlake, Sasol and Lake Charles LNG among the operators. Each site defines its own classified zones and approval requirements.
Not for use in a classified area. Cameron LNG and Calcasieu Pass operators, like refiners, run their own equipment approvals, and an uncertified device would normally be limited to safe areas. The IS-04Z1 is pre-launch with no certificate. Confirm requirements with the site operator before any trial.
Related guides for Lake Charles Louisiana and for United States.
Share the site details and quantity. You will get the datasheet and the certification schedule back by email; pricing is indicative only until launch.
Name the site and the operator and we will send what is available before launch.