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Bringing Safe, High-Speed Ethernet to Hazardous Environments

October 6, 2025

Ethernet cables are familiar to just about everyone who uses a computer, providing high-speed wired connectivity to local, metropolitan, and wide area networks. But until recently, they couldn’t be used at the field level in factories with hazardous conditions.

Working with suppliers, ABBe developed Ethernet-APL – a safer solution that limits supply voltage and current to eliminate the risk of sparking.

With Ethernet-APL, you get:

➡️ Enhanced data rates of up to 10 Mbps

➡️ A shielded two wire connection

➡️ Cable lengths of up to 1,000 meters

Watch Tilo Merlin, Platform Manager at ABB, explain how we developed an ethernet solution in which intrinsic safety is fully integrated – enabling high-speed connectivity in challenging environments.

More Information

Tapping data pipelines: Ethernet-APL-enabled flowmeters

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ABB Receives CDP’s ‘A’ Score for Transparency on Climate Change
Bringing Safe, High-Speed Ethernet to Hazardous Environments

ABB has been recognized for leadership in corporate transparency and performance on climate change by the global environmental non-profit organization Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) for the second consecutive year, securing a place on its annual ‘A List’. ABB is one of a small number of companies that achieved an ‘A’ – out of over 22,000 companies scored. ABB also improved its CDP Water score to A-. Over 700 financial institutions with over US$142 trillion in assets requested companies disclose through CDP on climate change, forests and water security.

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