Industrial Explosion Protection requires competency - in all levels with regards to individual and team as well. The related Directive (ATEX), standards (EN/IEC 60079, ISO 80079, etc.) describe the mininmum level of competency.
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The process equipment manufacturer had previously collaborated with IEP on various projects in Europe, however this was the first opportunity to propose a protection system which was fully compliant with North American standards and regulations.
The Standards which regulate the installation criteria of electrical products and equipment for use in hazardous areas have been constantly updating. Particularly, it has been recently amended the standard of cable entry/exit from 'Ex d' junction boxes, whether for IIB or IIB + H2 or IIC group. For this reason, we face in this study the changes introduced by updating the technical article of May 2014.
Explosions and fires at oil refineries and chemical facilities are far more likely to occur during equipment start-ups and shutdowns, notes the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) in a recent Safety Digest. Workers are typically the first line of victims when such incidents occur. In the Digest, the CSB describes three start-up/shutdown incidents it investigated in which collectively 5 workers were killed and 11 injured.
One common way of minimizing possibilities of electrical wiring and equipment becoming an ignition source in hazardous (classified) locations is to locate the equipment and wiring outside of the hazardous (classified) location wherever possible. This is always a practical approach and a good exercise of ingenuity, although it is not always possible. Often equipment and wiring installations have to be located within hazardous (classified) locations, and safe installations require a thorough understanding of more restrictive wiring rules.
ATEX or IECEx certified products are essential in any location that may contain, or has activities that produce explosive or potentially explosive atmospheres. There are a number of places that could be defined as being in an explosive atmosphere, some more obvious such as an oil rig, and others that you might not think of as being particularly explosive, such as a flour mill.
A large amount of confusion still exists over the change in the IEC 60079-14: 2013 5th Edition from the 4th Edition in 2007 over the use of barrier glands terminating into Ex d flameproof enclosures. To provide a little bit of guidance here, I thought it might be useful to discuss the differences between the standards and also provide some information on how industry has addressed this issue.
From 2003 I work for Miretti Company leader in Explosionproof protections, I'm an expert of the certification process and regulations for European, USA, Canada, IECEx, CNEx , and EAC market. With my experience I have increased the research and development capacity of new Ex products/solutions.
After 5 years of working as EEHA (Electrical equipment in hazardous areas) inspector, I can definitely say the Ex knowledge not only mandatory as a type of quality assurance, it is also vital for preventing future breakdowns and catastrophic failures
Whilst Australia does not recognize ATEX as it a trading directive we do recognize IEC standards and as such can usually issue a Conformity Assessment to allow ATEX equipment to be used in Australia, please contact me for assistance with this.
