MTL Instruments (www.mtl-inst.com) has introduced the F300 series of Megablock wiring hubs for fieldbus applications.

The company has specifically developed the unit for general purpose, as well as for Zone 2 and Division 2 hazardous area applications that require the ability to perform live maintenance, such as replacing field devices in hazardous areas, and where high energy trunk can be powered by a wide variety of fieldbus power supplies.

Live connection as well as disconnection of fieldbus spurs is allowed, even without a gas clearance certificate, with non-incendive and Ex ic fieldbus devices. However, in cases where live-working of the spurs is not require, Ex nA (normally non-sparking) or Ex d (flameproof) field devices can be used.

The F300 comes with a pluggable Trunk In/Out connector that allows replacement of a Megablock without breaking the connection of the trunk to other devices on the fieldbus segment. Its compact F97 terminator enables mounting in the Trunk out connection to offer termination when the Megablock is situated at the end of the fieldbus segment. When the segment is extended, the terminator can be removed to ensure correct termination.

Aside from reducing hand wiring, the Megablocks also allow individual devices to be removed and added to the segment without disrupting network communication. Its pluggable connectors are secured by screws.

The F300 Series Megablocks is part of MTL’s new FieldPlus brand initiative, which is designed to make fieldbus component selection easy based on the network architecture being used.