Pipelines
The Ruwais refinery connects to three jetties on the Gulf and a pipeline network of more than 1,600 km across the emirate for distributing fuels.
ADNOC's Ruwais complex in Abu Dhabi's Al Dhannah area is the biggest refinery in the Middle East, with Ruwais Refinery East rated at over 922,000 barrels a day and Ruwais Refinery West at up to 417,000. Process units, tank farms and jetties are classified areas. If you are specifying an intrinsically safe mobile phone for UAE refineries, this page covers the markings, the approvals and the current certification status of the IS-04Z1.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. The SAMS IS-04Z1 is the intrinsically safe smartphone covered here for UAE refineries: pre-launch, designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 (marking target Ex ib IIC T4), with certification in progress and no certificate issued.
For the record, no certificate exists for the IS-04Z1 today. The programme is under way ahead of a Q4 2026 launch. An operator's own vendor approval is a separate step. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Level of protection | ia, ib or ic matched to the zone | ib, for Zone 1 |
| Entity parameters | Uo, Io and Po within the device limits | Published with the certificate |
| Accessories | Chargers and cases certified with the device | Defined at certification |
| Where it applies | UAE refineries: Refinery process units, Tank farms, Loading jetties and gantries | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in UAE Refineries. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
The companies on site and the hazardous-area types a handset is likely to meet there.
The Ruwais refinery connects to three jetties on the Gulf and a pipeline network of more than 1,600 km across the emirate for distributing fuels.
ADNOC's older Abu Dhabi Refinery on Umm Al Nar Island, which processed up to 85,000 barrels a day, was shut in 2022 as ADNOC focused its downstream strategy on Ruwais.
A condensate splitter typically yields about half naphtha, 30 per cent jet fuel and 10 per cent gas oil, so light, easily ignited products dominate the process units.
UAE phones need type approval from the federal Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, and refinery operators add their own approval rules for portable devices.
Ruwais Refinery West opened in 2014 with 417,000 barrels a day and contains a very large residue catalytic cracking unit that upgrades about 127,000 barrels a day of heavy residue into middle distillates.
ENOC opened its first oil refinery in 1999 at 120,000 barrels a day for about 1.5 billion dirhams, so Dubai's refining is much younger than Abu Dhabi's.
Intrinsic safety limits the electrical and thermal energy in a circuit so that neither a spark nor a hot surface can ignite a gas or dust atmosphere, even when a fault occurs. The ib level, used for Zone 1, tolerates one fault. It is the usual way to make a handheld device that a worker carries continuously through a hazardous area.
The IS-04Z1 is designed on this principle for Zone 1 and Zone 21 (marking target II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4). Intrinsic safety is a design basis, not a certificate: certification is in progress and none has been issued yet.
In UAE refineries. Refinery rounds cover process units, tank farms and loading gantries over a large area, with many Zone 1 stops. A handheld intrinsically safe device lets an operator record readings and photograph equipment at each stop. It is designed for turnaround inspections too, where punch lists and photographs are logged in the field.
A short checklist for anyone writing or reviewing the specification, with the IS-04Z1 status against each point.
Not today. Until the certificates are issued the IS-04Z1 stays out of classified areas, and until launch there is nothing to purchase. You can ask for the datasheet and the certification schedule, or book a safe-area evaluation unit.
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 circuits are designed to limit energy so a spark or hot surface cannot ignite a gas or dust atmosphere, even with one fault (level ib, Zone 1). Certification of that design is in progress.
Likely candidates are refinery process units, tank farms, loading jetties and gantries, product pipelines. Which areas are classified, and to what zone, is set by the site operator's own area classification drawings.
Not exactly. Explosion proof is a broad everyday term; intrinsic safety is one protection concept, which limits energy so ignition cannot occur. Flameproof (Ex d) is a different concept that contains an explosion. The IS-04Z1 is intrinsically safe by design.
No. ADNOC runs the Ruwais complex in Abu Dhabi, but Dubai's Jebel Ali refinery is run by ENOC Processing Company, a subsidiary of the Dubai government's energy group, and smaller plants operate at Fujairah. Each operator has its own supplier and equipment-approval process.
That depends on the project owner. ADNOC, ENOC and the Fujairah operators run separate procurement and HSE processes, so there is no single approval. Ask the client or main contractor which operator's standards apply, and check current requirements directly with that operator.
It groups ADNOC's Ruwais complex, the largest, and a smaller refinery at Umm Al Nar in Abu Dhabi. Current operating status of individual units has not been checked here. Ask ADNOC refining which units are active, and which areas your team will actually enter.
Other guides for UAE Refineries, other places in United Arab Emirates, and the pages behind them.
Send the site, zone and gas group and roughly how many handsets. We reply by email with the datasheet and the certification schedule.
Name the site and the operator and we will send what is available before launch.