Heavier-than-air vapour at low points
Propane and butane pool in drains, trenches and bunds. A handset with a camera and GNSS lets an operator record exactly where a smell or a reading was found.
Norway · Gas Processing and Terminals
Explosion proof mobile phone for Gas Processing and Terminals in Norway
Norway lands its gas at a short list of coastal plants: Kårstø, Kollsnes and Nyhamna for pipeline gas, Melkøya for LNG, and Mongstad and Sture for crude oil. This page is about the explosion proof mobile phone question at those plants, where gas, condensate and liquids sit alongside compression and a marine jetty. The IS-04Z1 is designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 duty; its ATEX and IECEx certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch. The IS-04Z1 is designed around intrinsic safety rather than a flameproof enclosure.
Launching Q4 2026 · certification programme in progress
Local approvalATEX · IECExATEX 2014/34/EU through the EEA · in progress
AvailabilityQ4 2026via authorised distributors
The sites · Gas processing and terminals
Norway’s coastal gas plants and terminals
The sector is small in number of sites and large in scale. Kårstø, Kollsnes and Nyhamna are operated by Gassco and between them take the gas from the shelf's main export systems. Melkøya, an island at Hammerfest, liquefies gas from the Snøhvit field in the Barents Sea, and Equinor operates it. Mongstad and Sture are crude oil terminals that receive and load oil from shelf fields, and Mongstad also has a refinery and a carbon capture test centre. Northern Lights, the CO2 receiving terminal at Øygarden, adds a newer type of plant with its own hazards. What they share is a fixed fence, a control room, a continuous process and a jetty. Operators are listed on the Equinor and Gassco pages.
Plants and what they handle
- Kårstø
- Gas, condensate and natural gas liquids; ship loading at a marine terminal.
- Kollsnes
- Troll gas processing and compression west of Bergen.
- Nyhamna
- Ormen Lange and Aasta Hansteen gas, processed in Aukra.
- Melkøya
- LNG: cryogenic liquids, refrigerant hydrocarbons and amine CO2 removal.
- Mongstad and Sture
- Crude oil terminals with tank farms, tanker berths and, at Mongstad, a refinery.
Hazards by area
- Compression and process units
- Zone 1 and Zone 2 areas around seals, vents and sampling points.
- Tank farms
- Crude and condensate tanks with floating roofs and vapour at the roof seal.
- Jetties and ship manifolds
- Zones around hoses and arms during loading of liquids and gas.
- Cryogenic areas
- LNG storage and transfer, where cold is a hazard as well as flammable vapour.
- Capture and CO2 handling
- Amine solvent and high-pressure CO2; classification depends on the design.
Built for local conditions
What an explosion proof mobile phone faces at a Norwegian gas plant
A coastal gas plant is a continuous, heavily instrumented site. The handset has to add something the control room does not already have.
IP ratingIP68
Battery4,000 mAh
Camera50 MP
OSAndroid 16
Long, exposed routes
Rounds cover large areas in rain, wind and sleet. IP68 sealing and rugged build are aimed at that, and the 4,000 mAh battery is sized for a shift.
Gas and dust in one site
Most of these plants are gas, but Zone 21 dust can appear in packaging or bulk areas elsewhere in the sector. The design target covers both.
Work patterns · Sector
How work is organised and what procurement will ask
Plants run around the clock with shift operators. The big planned stops, known as revisjonsstans, bring hundreds of contractors from many firms into the process for weeks. Gassco publishes planned maintenance on its transport system in advance, so the dates are known well ahead. Marine staff work at the jetty in parallel with process crews.
Operators in this sector share a qualification register for suppliers, Magnet JQS, formerly EPIM JQS, and then apply their own technical requirements to Ex equipment. SAMS has no approval from any of them and has not applied; ask each operator's procurement and HSE teams for the process on their plant.
Operations01
Rounds in the process area
Readings, photographs and a voice call to the control room from one device, inside the classified boundary.
Marine02
Loading and discharge at the jetty
A supervisor at the manifold can communicate and record without carrying a separate radio into the zone.
Shutdown03
Revisjonsstans campaigns
Contractors are enrolled for the length of the stop, issued the job pack and permits, and wiped at the end.
Questions · Gas processing and terminals
Frequently asked questions
Which sites does this page cover?
Kårstø, Kollsnes, Nyhamna, Melkøya, Mongstad, Sture and the CO2 receiving terminal at Øygarden. For each, the operator's classification drawings decide the zones and the gas group, not this page.
Is LNG handled differently from natural gas?
The flammable gas is the same family, but LNG adds cryogenic temperatures and refrigerant hydrocarbons, and its classification is set by the plant design. The device's temperature range and the area's temperature class are both checked against the datasheet.
Can we buy the IS-04Z1 for a plant today?
No. The device is pre-launch and no certificate has been issued. SAMS supplies through authorised distributors after launch, and nothing goes into a classified area until the certificate covering it exists.
Enquiry · Gas Processing and Terminals
Ask about the IS-04Z1 for Gas Processing and Terminals, Norway
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 Norway. 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 · Gas Processing and Terminals
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.