--- title: "Industrial IoT in a process plant | Nexus Observatory" description: "Wireless instruments on the pipe racks and process units form a mesh to the control building, tank gauges report over LoRaWAN…" url: https://observatory.global/environments/networks/iot-plant/ publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc. updated: 2026-10-29 --- Industrial IoT in a process plant. A process plant with three wireless networks: an instrument mesh, LoRaWAN tank gauges and a microwave hop. Layers Scenario A process plant with three wireless networks: an instrument mesh, LoRaWAN tank gauges and a microwave hop. 01/05 500 MHz 1 GHz 2 GHz 5 GHz 10 GHz 20 GHz 40 GHz EU868 LoRaWAN: 863–870 MHz · λ 35 cm · LPWAN, 1 % duty cycle · LoRa Alliance RP002-1.0.4 Network scenes # Industrial IoT in a process plant Wireless instruments on the pipe racks and process units form a mesh to the control building, tank gauges report over LoRaWAN, and a microwave hop links the control building to the substation. [Radio access in a city centre](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/ran-city/) [Open RAN in a suburb](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/oran-suburb/) [AI-RAN at a stadium](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/ai-ran-stadium/) [Private 5G in an open-pit mine](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/private5g-mine/) [Private 5G at a container port](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/private5g-port/) [LoRaWAN across a farm and village](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/iot-farm/) [IoT in the city: a street-light mesh and LoRaWAN](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/iot-city/) [Industrial IoT in a process plant](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/iot-plant/) [Satellite direct to device in a mountain valley](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/ntn-d2d/) [Microwave backhaul across a river valley](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/backhaul-fresnel/) The place: [Process plant](https://observatory.global/environments/plant-yard/) ## In this scene **Wireless instrument gateway**: Gateway and network manager for the wireless field instruments, on the control-building roof, with the plant historian behind it. (IEC 62591 (WirelessHART), IEC 62734 (ISA100.11a)) **Wireless pressure and temperature transmitters**: Battery transmitters on the process units and racks, each a router for its neighbours: steel is everywhere, so the mesh finds paths around it. (IEC 62591, IEEE 802.15.4) **LoRaWAN gateway on the stack platform**: Tank-level and corrosion sensors on the tank farm report to a gateway on the stack platform at 60 m. (LoRaWAN L2 1.0.4 (TS001-1.0.4), LoRa Alliance RP002-1.0.4) **Substation automation**: Protection and control in the plant substation, linked to the control building by a licensed microwave hop. (IEC 61850, ITU-R F.595) ## Computed for this scenario **18 GHz hop to the substation**: 0.35 km · 18 GHz **Worst clearance of F1**: 793 % (clear) **Knife-edge loss (P.526)**: 0.0 dB **Free-space loss (P.525)**: 108.4 dB **Received level**: -12.7 dBm · margin 57.3 dB **Gateways in service**: 1 of 1 **End devices served**: 12 of 12 **Mean spreading factor**: SF7.0 **Mean time on air, 20 B**: 57 ms **SF12 ring radius**: 9.2 km **Uplinks an hour at SF12 under 1 % duty cycle**: 27 **Mesh nodes reaching the sink**: 0 of 20 **Longest route**: — **Cut off**: 20 ## Scenarios **Normal**: Every instrument reaches the gateway; the microwave hop clears its Fresnel zone F1. **Shutdown scaffolding**: Scaffolding for a shutdown blocks two rack routers; their neighbours re-route. A new structure rises in the microwave path. ## Tour transcript 1. A process plant with three wireless networks: an instrument mesh, LoRaWAN tank gauges and a microwave hop. 2. Instruments on the units and racks route through one another to the gateway on the control building. 3. Tank gauges report over LoRaWAN to a gateway on the stack platform. 4. The 18 GHz hop from the control building to the substation, with its Fresnel zone F1. 5. Shutdown scaffolding: two routers are blocked and a structure rises in the microwave path. Routes and the link budget are recomputed. ## How the numbers are computed Mesh links join instruments within 95 m; routes minimise the sum of 1 + (d / range)² per hop and are recomputed when routers fail. The microwave hop is judged on its profile over the plant: Fresnel zone F1 radius √(λ d1 d2 / d) (ITU-R P.530), 60 % clearance, single knife-edge loss J(v) (ITU-R P.526), free-space loss (ITU-R P.525) and 0.6 m dishes (ITU-R F.699 gain). © 2026 Nexus Observatory Inc. **Legal** [Privacy notice](https://observatory.global/legal/privacy/) · [Terms of use](https://observatory.global/legal/terms/) · [Cookie policy](https://observatory.global/legal/cookies/) · [Accessibility](https://observatory.global/legal/accessibility/) · [Official languages](https://observatory.global/official-languages/) · [Trademarks](https://observatory.global/trademarks/) · [Notices](https://observatory.global/notices/) **Company** [About](https://observatory.global/about/) · [Stewardship](https://observatory.global/consortium/) · [Contact](https://observatory.global/contact/)