Supplying Proximity Sensors to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf

We supply proximity switches to buyers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, mostly to oil and gas service companies, cement and aggregate plants, water treatment, and machine builders exporting onward.

The commercial attraction is straightforward: Indian manufacture at a price below European equivalents, with shorter lead times than importing from Europe or Japan. The technical specification needs two adjustments that buyers frequently miss.

1. Ambient temperature derating

This is the one that causes field failures. A sensor rated for a standard industrial ambient is being asked to work in a plant room in Dammam in July, inside an unventilated enclosure, in direct sun.

The ambient inside a south facing control box in the Gulf summer can sit well above the general plant figure that the specification assumed. Three consequences:

• Sensing distance drifts. Assured operating distance already accounts for temperature variation, but at the extreme end you are using all of that allowance. Set the gap at 70 percent of rated rather than 80.
• Cable jackets degrade. Standard PVC hardens and cracks under combined UV and heat. Specify PUR, and where cable is exposed outdoors, specify UV resistant and route it in conduit.
• Electronics life shortens. Every component has a temperature life relationship. A sensor that lasts a decade in a temperate plant will not.

Where the ambient is genuinely high, specify from the high temperature range rather than hoping a standard part copes. Tell us the actual measured ambient at the sensor, not the plant design figure.

2. Dust and sand ingress

Fine wind blown sand is more aggressive than industrial dust. It abrades the sensor face, works into cable glands and accumulates on the sensing face where it holds moisture during the night.

IP67 is the practical minimum for anything outdoors. Where there is also washing, IP69K. The IP ratings guide explains what each test actually covers, which is not what most people assume.

For sensors mounted facing upward outdoors, specify a connector with a proper seal and torque it, or use a moulded fixed cable, see connector or cable.

Certification and documentation

What is required depends on the end client, not the country.

• Oil and gas. Expect a hazardous area requirement. That means NAMUR sensors with intrinsically safe barriers, and certification evidence. See UL, CSA and Zone 0 NAMUR switches.
• Machine builders exporting onward to Europe. You need the CE documentation chain to hold. Our notes on sensors in exported machinery cover what the sensor supplier has to provide.
• General industrial. Declaration of conformity to IEC 60947-5-2, test data, country of origin certificate.

Tell us at the enquiry stage which of these the end client requires. Producing a certificate after shipment is slower and occasionally impossible.

Commercial mechanics

Exports from India are zero rated for GST, either under bond or with refund, so the price you are quoted is the price. You will need the commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and the HS classification, which for proximity switches is set out in our HSN and GST guide. The Indian HSN and the international HS code share the first six digits, which is what your customs broker needs.

For repeat requirements, an annual rate contract with scheduled despatches is more efficient than quoting each order, and lets us plan production rather than treating every order as new.

What we would ask you

To quote properly we need more than a part number list, because an imported part number does not tell us the conditions it has to survive.

• Measured ambient at the sensor location, and whether it is enclosed or in sun
• Indoor, outdoor or washdown
• Area classification, if any
• Target material and the gap you can hold
• What the input card expects, PNP or NPN, or whether it is AC
• Which certificates the end client requires

If you are replacing an installed imported part, send the number and we will cross reference it, see cross referencing imported switches. We will also tell you where a cross reference is close but not identical, because in an export situation discovering that on site is expensive.