Lighting improvement for hazardous areas

Louise Davis

Chalmit has launched the Protecta X LED. This new luminaire is up to 50% brighter than any traditional linear light on the market, it has user-definable light distribution, a lifespan of over 120,000 hours at 25°C and thanks to an optional battery stick, can be installed quickly.

 
This is Chalmit’s largest ever investment in product development; with four patents pending.
 
Ken Eddleston, Chalmit’s Lighting Product Manager elaborates: “Traditional linear luminaires have dominated the low-level lighting of hazardous areas for over 50 years.  But linear lights were originally designed to house fluorescent lamps, since then LEDs have come in, but the linear enclosure hasn’t really changed, leaving the performance of LEDs compromised.
 
“We felt it was time to change all this. So, we gave the luminaires a complete re-think, putting customer needs and light performance front and centre of our design process. Rather than accepting the constraints of a traditional linear enclosure, our design team started from scratch and asked what design would ensure the absolute best from the LED? The result is the Protecta X.”
 
It has specialised optics which deliver the light of a 4ft linear in a lightweight luminaire package. The optics control the light, generating a highly targeted, bright, white output over the desired area, and limiting the amount of wasted spill light. The optics are available in a variety of distinct distributions, designed for key site applications – such as mounted from handrails for walkway illumination and localised lighting in low/medium bay applications. This higher, more focused output means fewer luminaires are required, reducing installation, inspection times and overall project costs. Furthermore, the Protecta X is 50% more energy efficient than a fluorescent luminaire, reducing energy costs too.
 
Chalmit has also innovated with the emergency version of the product. The Emergency Protecta X has a battery stick which slots into the side of the luminaire, eliminating the need to laboriously open the driver enclosure to access the battery. If battery issues arise, the stick can be simply removed or replaced in minutes – reducing maintenance times by a third. The position of the battery stick also means users can purchase the stick when they’re ready to use the luminaire. Ken Eddleston explains why this is such an important feature:
 
“A luminaire is often delivered to site well in advance of project completion. However, the longer you leave a battery unpowered, the more likely it is to fall into an unrecoverable deep discharge state – resulting in expensive and time-consuming maintenance of the unit before it has even been used. We’ve eliminated this big problem; if they want to, users can simply purchase the battery stick when they’re ready to use the luminaire.”
 
The Protecta X also avoids the overheating issues of traditional linear luminaires, making it more likely to meet the stipulated 120,000-hour lifespan; even at 60°C, it has a lifespan of 90,000 hours. Its LEDs and driver are housed in separate enclosures extending the life of both components. Air gaps between the luminaire and central body prevent the collection and dust and particulates, which can also encourage overheating.  Made of highly recyclable marine grade aluminium, rather than plastic, heat is conducted away from the new luminaire’s central body. These design features ensure the Protecta X has an exceptional ambient temperature range of -4°C to +60°C in standard models and -25°C to +60°C in emergency variants.