A whole shift in the plant
There is no charging point inside a classified area and the walk to one at Záluží is not short. The 4,000 mAh battery is specified to cover a full shift with the camera and a maintenance application in use.
Czech Republic · Orlen Unipetrol
Explosion proof mobile phone for Orlen Unipetrol, Litvínov & Kralupy
An explosion proof mobile phone for Orlen Unipetrol has to cover two refineries, the country's largest chemical complex and a contractor population that swells every time a unit comes down. Orlen Unipetrol is the Czech refining and petrochemical group owned by the Polish PKN Orlen, running refineries at Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou and the petrochemical plants at Záluží. This page is for the HSE officers, operations managers and telecoms teams deciding what may be carried past the gate in the Czech Republic. The IS-04Z1 is designed around intrinsic safety rather than a flameproof enclosure.
Launching Q4 2026 · certification and vendor documentation in progress
Local approvalATEXEU Directive 2014/34/EU · nařízení vlády 116/2016 Sb. · in progress
AvailabilityQ4 2026via authorised distributors
The sites · Orlen Unipetrol
Explosion proof mobile phone for Litvínov, Záluží and Kralupy
Záluží near Litvínov is described by the company as the largest chemical production site in the Czech Republic. The steam cracker there was commissioned in 1979 and has ten cracking furnaces, and it is the starting point for the polyethylene and polypropylene units downstream. The refinery shares the site. Kralupy nad Vltavou, on the Vltava north of Prague, is the group's second refinery and makes fuels and agrochemical products. Both refineries now receive crude through the IKL pipeline fed by the TAL line from Trieste, which is covered on the MERO ČR page. The hazards are the usual refinery and olefin plant list with some particular emphasis. Ethylene is gas group IIB, hydrogen is IIC, and naphtha, propylene and gasoline vapours are IIA, so a plant-wide device standard has to be rated for IIC to be usable in the cracker's hydrogen and ethylene areas. The polyolefin side adds powder and pellet handling, where dust classification studies apply, which is the reason the Zone 21 design target matters here.
Operators and contractors
- Orlen Unipetrol
- Operates the Litvínov and Kralupy refineries and the Záluží petrochemical complex.
- PKN Orlen
- Polish parent company; group engineering standards can sit above the Czech ones.
- Paramo
- Pardubice and Kolín; owned by the Unipetrol group, asphalt products and lubricants.
- Spolana
- Neratovice PVC producer, part of the Unipetrol group since 2016; see explosion proof phone for Spolana.
- MERO ČR
- Delivers crude to both refineries by pipeline.
- Turnaround contractors
- Mechanical, electrical, instrument and inspection firms who arrive for planned outages.
Classified units and areas
- Crude distillation and conversion
- Refinery process units at Litvínov and Kralupy, including a fluid catalytic cracker at Kralupy.
- Steam cracker, ten furnaces
- Ethylene and hydrogen service at Záluží, commissioned in 1979.
- Polyethylene and polypropylene
- Polymerisation, powder conveying and pelletising at Záluží.
- Tank farms and loading
- Product, feedstock and intermediate storage with rail and road loading.
- Flare, utilities and effluent
- Outside-battery-limit areas that still carry classified zones.
- Offices and control rooms
- Outside the classified boundary.
Built for a large integrated site
What Záluží and Kralupy ask of a handset
On a site of this size the walk between units is long, the units are interdependent and a handset has to be useful in both gas and powder areas. These are the points that usually come up.
IP ratingIP68
Battery4,000 mAh
Camera50 MP
OSAndroid 16
Hydrogen and ethylene in the same programme
The design target of II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4 is aimed at the more demanding gas groups. The certificate, once issued, states the exact marking, which your own classification drawings are checked against.
Gas and powder together
Zone 21 dust protection sits in the same certification programme, so one device can cross from the cracker area to a polymer powder area without a separate device for each.
Turnaround crews and re-issue
Planned outages at the Litvínov petrochemical plant have run to several weeks, with refinery units elsewhere on the site kept in operation. Android Enterprise enrolment, restriction and wipe handle a crew arriving and leaving.
Group and Czech language files
Czech instructions and the declaration of conformity are being prepared alongside English, and PKN Orlen's own documentation expectations should be asked for at the start.
Use cases · Orlen Unipetrol
Where the IS-04Z1 goes to work.
Operations01
Unit rounds in the refinery and cracker
An operator walks a unit, records readings and reports a leak with a photograph and a position. The managed handset replaces the radio and the paper round sheet.
Turnaround02
Planned shutdown of the petrochemical plant
Large contractor crews work to permits issued each day. The permit, the drawing and the daily report run on a locked-down device that can be wiped and reissued at crew change.
Maintenance03
Tank farm and loading gantry work
Gantry and tank farm crews check equipment in vapour areas away from the main units, where a handset replaces both camera and radio.
Procurement and access
What suppliers should expect to be asked
A formal registration route for Orlen Unipetrol or the PKN Orlen group has not been verified for this page, so none is named. Ask the procurement and HSE teams.
- Group standards
- As the parent is Polish, ask whether group-wide technical standards add documentation beyond the ATEX file.
- Certificate
- ATEX certificate, marking, instructions and declaration of conformity; none yet issued for the IS-04Z1.
- Classification
- Each unit has its own classification drawings; zone and gas group are read from those.
- Contractor access
- Contractors bringing their own devices onto site typically face the same equipment questions as the operator.
Questions · Orlen Unipetrol
Frequently asked questions
Is the IS-04Z1 certified for use at Litvínov or Kralupy today?
No. It is pre-launch and ATEX certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
Why does the cracker need a handset rated for IIC?
Hydrogen is a gas group IIC substance and ethylene is IIB. A single standard device for plant-wide use needs to cover the most demanding group present.
Does Unipetrol's ownership by PKN Orlen change the requirements?
The legal framework is the same ATEX one across the EU. Group engineering standards may add to the documentation requested, which is a question for the operator's own teams.
Do Paramo and Spolana share Unipetrol's procurement?
They belong to the same group, but each site has its own hazards and its own equipment review, so do not assume a decision at one carries to another.
Enquiry · Orlen Unipetrol
Ask about the IS-04Z1 for Orlen Unipetrol, Czech Republic
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 Czech Republic. 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 · Orlen Unipetrol
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.