Hydrogen-rich gas in the steel route
Coke-oven gas is in gas group IIC, so the target marking II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4 fits it. The works' classification decides where.
Austria · Steel and process industry
Explosion proof mobile phone for steel and process industry in Austria
Steel and process industry in Austria means two very different kinds of plant: integrated steelworks at Linz and Donawitz, and agricultural processing sites such as AGRANA's bioethanol and wheat starch works at Pischelsdorf. This page explains where an explosion proof mobile phone is used across those sites in Austria, and what the IS-04Z1, an intrinsically safe Zone 1 and Zone 21 phone in certification ahead of its Q4 2026 launch, is designed to do in each.
Launching Q4 2026 · ATEX programme in progress
Local approvalATEX · VEXATATEX 2014/34/EU through the Explosionsschutzverordnung 2015 · in progress
AvailabilityQ4 2026via authorised distributors
The sector · Austria
Where an explosion proof mobile phone is used in Austrian steel and process plants
The steel route is gas and heat: coke-oven gas, blast furnace gas and converter gas collected and distributed across the works, plus coal, coke and ore dust at handling points. The agricultural route is dust and alcohol. At Pischelsdorf in Lower Austria, AGRANA's site combines wheat starch with Austria's only bioethanol plant, and company sources give about 200 employees and a wheat processing capacity of 1.2 million tonnes after the second starch plant was added. Wheat, flour, starch and gluten are combustible dusts, and ethanol is a flammable liquid with vapour in gas group IIB. AGRANA also runs sugar and starch plants elsewhere in Austria, with the sugar processed in an autumn campaign. One sector label, two sets of hazards.
Operators
- voestalpine
- Integrated works at Linz and Donawitz; see explosion proof phone for voestalpine.
- AGRANA
- Bioethanol and wheat starch at Pischelsdorf, plus sugar and starch sites in Austria.
- Plant contractors
- Mechanical, electrical and refractory firms, and food-process engineering specialists.
- Greentec steel teams
- Contractors building the electric arc furnaces planned for 2027.
Classified units and areas
- Coke and gas plants
- Coke-oven gas, hydrogen-rich and in gas group IIC.
- Blast furnace and gas cleaning
- Blast furnace gas and coal injection dust.
- Raw material handling
- Coal, coke, ore, grain and beet conveyors, silos and transfer towers.
- Ethanol fermentation and distillation
- Ethanol vapour in columns, tanks and loading.
- Starch and gluten drying
- Fine powders with Zone 21 and Zone 22 dust areas.
- Sugar houses
- Sugar dust in drying, silos and packing.
Built for local conditions
What steel and agriculture do to a handset
The two halves of this sector need the same handset to handle gas and dust, but in very different quantities and with very different seasons.
IP ratingIP68
Battery4,000 mAh
Camera50 MP
OSAndroid 16
Alcohol in the process route
Ethanol is gas group IIB, so the same IIC marking covers it. The more important point is temperature class, with ethanol well within T4.
Dust in both halves
Coal and ore dust in steel, flour and starch dust in food processing. The dust marking and maximum surface temperature on the certificate, once issued, are what the safety officer compares with the dust's ignition characteristics.
Seasonal and outage working
Sugar is processed in an autumn campaign with continuous shifts, and steel works run planned outages. The pattern in both cases is a short period with many contractors on site, which is when a managed fleet helps.
Use cases · Steel and process
Where the IS-04Z1 goes to work in the sector.
Steel01
Gas network and furnace area checks
Walkers on gas mains and around furnaces record valve positions and defects with a position and a photograph, not a verbal description.
Bioethanol02
Distillation and tank farm rounds
Operators check columns, pumps and loading points. A handset in the Zone 1 area removes the trip to a terminal for each reading.
Starch and sugar03
Dust housekeeping and campaign work
Dust collection and cleaning rounds are recorded with photographs. During the sugar campaign, handover between shifts is also logged on the same device.
Registration and access · Steel and process
What operators in the sector would ask of a handset supplier
We have not found public handset supplier routes at voestalpine or AGRANA and claim none. Both are Austrian employers with explosion protection documents under the VEXAT, so a handset must come with data that the safety officer can enter in that document. Ask the procurement and HSE teams which supplier file and induction apply, and expect each site to decide separately.
- Gas and dust marking
- IIC for gas and the Zone 21 marking for dust, as they appear on the certificate.
- Temperature limits
- Temperature class and maximum surface temperature against the substances present.
- Heat and environment
- Ambient range for hot areas in steel and humid areas in food processing.
- Console and policy
- Existing mobile device management with camera policy for food and pharma-style sites.
- Documentation
- German manual and declaration of conformity.
Questions · Steel and process
Frequently asked questions
Is the IS-04Z1 certified for steelworks or starch plants?
No. Certification is in progress for a Q4 2026 launch, and we have no customer relationship with any operator named on this page.
Are steel dust and starch dust treated the same?
They are both combustible dusts, but their ignition characteristics differ. The safety officer compares the certificate's dust marking with the data for the actual dust.
Does the ethanol plant need a different handset from the starch plant?
The gas group and dust marking are covered by the same specification target, but each area has its own classification and the plant decides.
Enquiry · Steel and process industry
Ask about the IS-04Z1 for Steel and process industry, Austria
Tell us the site, the zone and gas group, and roughly how many handsets. The SAMS team replies by email with the datasheet and the certification schedule for Austria. The IS-04Z1 is pre-launch and certification is in progress, so there is no list price yet; indicative pricing is issued in writing against a stated quantity and site.
Enquiry · Steel and process industry
Launching Q4 2026
Evaluating the IS-04Z1 for this site?
Tell us the zone, gas group and operator. We will send the datasheet and the certification schedule for your market.