Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
In most of the industrial plants such as Chemical plants, Refineries, Crude Oil & Gas
processing plants, hazardous areas exist due to the presence of flammable gases .
While designing such plants the first step is to finalize the layout of facilities and
equipments. Area Classification drawings are then developed based on the layouts.
The purpose of the area classification drawings is to clearly identify the hazardous
and safe areas in the plant . For safe operations all electrical equipments must be
selected keeping in view their area of application in the plant. It goes without saying
that electrical equipments designed for hazardous areas are much costlier than the
ordinary ones and hence the plant facility layout has a considerable bearing on the
capital expenditure.
SOME DEFINITIONS
We know that for a fire to take place three things are essential :
1. Presence of fuel such as flammable gas
2. Presence of oxygen
3. Presence of heat ie. sufficient ignition energy to ignite the flammable mixture
While discussing hazardous areas ,it is useful to have the following relevant
definitions in mind :
• Ignition Temperature : The lowest temperature at which ignition occurs in a
mixture of explosive gas and air.
• Flash Point : The temperature at which the liquid gives so much vapour,that
this vapour, when mixed with air,forms an ignitable mixture.
• Explosive Limits : The extreme values for the concentration of a flammable
gas or air under atmospheric conditions, which can be ignited by an electric
arc or spark.
STANDARDS
Most countries have developed their own standards and codes for Area
Classification but internationally two main standards are being followed.These are :
• The North American standards produced by the API and NFPA.
• The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards.
• API RP 500 is used in the United States whereas IEC 79 is popular in Europe.
The North American API RP 500 defines the above two aspects as Divisions and
Gas Groups whereas in IEC 79 they are termed as Zones and Gas Groups.
NORTH AMERICAN METHOD
CLASSES
The type of flammable material is classified as follows :
Class 1 :Flammable gases or vapors are present in the air in quantities
sufficient to produce explosive or ignitable mixtures.
Class 2 : Combustible or conductive dusts are present.
Class 3 : Ignitable fibres or flyings are present, but not likely to be in suspension in
sufficient quantities to produce ignitable mixtures. (Group classifications are not
applied to this class.)
DIVISIONS
Class 1, Division 1 Location : A location in which ignitable concentrations of
flammable gases or vapors are expected to exist under normal operating conditions
or in which faulty operation of equipment or processes might simultaneously release
flammable gases or vapors and also cause failure of electrical equipment.
Class 1, Division 2 Location : A location in which flammable gases or vapors may
be present, but normally are confined within closed systems; are prevented from
accumulating by adequate ventilation; or the location is adjacent to a Division 1
location from which ignitable concentrations might occasionally be communicated.
GAS GROUPS
GROUP A Atmospheres containing acetylene.
GROUP B Atmospheres containing hydrogen
GROUP C Atmospheres containing ethyl ether vapours, ethylene or
equivalent gases
GROUP D Atmospheres containing gasoline, naptha, propane, acetone,
natural gas or equivalent
GROUP E Metal Dust
GROUP F Coal Dust
GROUP G Grain Dust
EUROPEAN METHOD
ZONES
ZONE 0 An area in which hazardous atmosphere
is continuously present. In oil industry
such a condition exists in confined
spaces, such as the vapour space of
closed process vessels, storage tanks
etc.
ZONE 1 An area where explosive gas and air
mixture is continuously present for a long
period or is likely to occur in normal
operation.
ZONE 2 An area in which explosive gas and air
mixture is likely to occur only under
abnormal operating conditions. For
example : Gas Turbine enclosures.
NON-HAZARDOUS AREA Areas not falling under Zone 0,1 or 2 are
considered as safe areas. Oil and gas
pipelines laid in the open outside
hazardous areas and that do not have
any flange joints,which cannot become
loose, are considered safe area.
GAS GROUPS
GROUP 1 Covers gases produced in coal mines
(mainly fire damp methane).
GROUP 2A Atmospheres containing acetone,
ethane, hexane, ethyl acetate, ammonia,
benzene, butane, diesel, propane etc.
GROUP 2B Atmospheres containing ethylene, town
gas, ethyl ether etc.
GROUP 2C Atmospheres containing hydrogen,
acetylene, ethyl nitrate, carbon
disulphide.
INGRESS PROTECTION
To complete the subject it is also worthwhile to touch upon the topic of Ingress
Protection for enclosures of electrical equipments and switchgear. Ingress protection
defines the level of protection of the enclosure against the ingress of solids and
liquids. It is denoted as IP followed by two digits eg. IP 55. Here the first digit
specifies protection against ingress of solids whereas the second digit specifies
protection against ingress of liquids. The following tables provides the details :
SOLIDS
0 No protection
1 Protected against solid objects upto 50
mm (eg. Hands)
2 Protected against solid objects upto 12.5
mm (eg. Fingers)
3 Protected against solid objects upto 2.5
mm (eg. Tools)
4 Protected against solid objects over 1
mm (eg. Wires)
5 Protected against dust (No harmful
deposits)
6 Totally protected against dust.
LIQUIDS
0 No protection
1 Protected against vertically falling drops
of water
2 Protected against water spray upto 15
deg from the vertical
3 Protected against water spray upto 60
deg from the vertical
4 Protected against water spray from all
directions
5 Protected against water jets from all
directions
6 Protected against strong water jets from
all directions
7 Protected against immersion upto 1 Mtr
depth.
8 Protected against lengthy immersion
under pressure.
CONCLUSION
It is imperative that all of us engaged in the pursuit of oil and gas clearly understand
the disastrous implications of an electrical equipment wrongly selected or improperly
maintained. Even if we select world class equipment/apparatus , it will not reduce the
risks if not well maintained. So the onus is on the electrical maintenance engineers
( a thankless and much hassled community) to beware of each missing bolt from a
flameproof equipment or a worn gasket in a field junction box. And my dear brethren
(read electrical maintenance engineers) do we not know that 90% of the fires in the
industry are thrust in our laps as caused by electrical short-circuits. After all, any fire
burns out cables and wires also ,doesn’t it ? Very difficult to establish the cause and
the effect later. So why give the world a chance ? Let us resolve to mitigate the risks
with our knowledge, skills and commitment.