Ex: Safety of Electrical Equipment

MF180 Introduction in
Maintenance Engineering Course

June 2010

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 Objectives

At the end of this session participants should be able to:

 Describe the nature of Electrical hazards in the

Petroleum Industry

 Distinguish the three types of hazardous areas

 Describe some types of Electrical protection

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Traditional Fire Triangle

FUEL
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Flammable Materials

• GASES

• VAPOURS

• MISTS

• DUSTS

• FIBRES

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 Properties of Flammable Materials

Flashpoint temperature
 Material „can burn‟ with external ignition
Flammable limits composition
 Lower Flammable limit, Upper flammable limit
Ignition energy (J)
“Auto” ignition temperature
 Temp at which material can burn without external ignition
Threshold limit value (TLV)
 Daily exposure to humans

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 Flammable mixtures
combustible
upon
ventilation
'too rich'
UFL (%) upper flammable limit

flammable
flammable mists mixture

lower flammable limit

LFL (%)

not combustible : 'lean'

Vapor
concentration Flash point (T) Temperature

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Petroleum products in ambient air:

FLAMMABLE LIMITS (% vol/vol)

COMPOUNDS LOWER UPPER
Hydrogen (gas) 4.0 77.0
Methane (gas) 4.4 17.0
Ethane (gas) 2.5 15.5
Propane (gas) 1.7 10.9
Butane (gas) 1.4 9.3
Pentane (liquid) 1.4 7.8
Hexane (liquid) 1.0 8.4
Heptane (liquid) 1.1 6.7
Gasoline 1.4 7.6
Naphta 0.9 6.0

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 Ignition Characteristic
Ignition Energy (mJ)

Minimum
Ignition
Energy
(MIE)
0 LFL UFL 100
% of flammable gas

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 Question:

We have a leak in a propane sphere.

The area around the leak is open, such that the
concentration of the gas in air is < 10%
The Flashpoint of propane is – 104 oC
Auto ignition temperature is > 540 oC
The ambient temperature is 30 oC
Ignition energy: 0.26 mJ

An electrical motor nearby has a working temperature of

80C.

Can this motor cause ignition?

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Potential Ignition Sources

• Spark ignition

• Hot surfaces

• Non-obvious sources

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 Release grades:

Zone 0 Continuous:
A release which is continuous or is expected to
occur for long periods. > 1000 hrs

Zone 1 Primary:
A release which can be expected to occur
periodically or occasionally during normal
operation. 10 - 1000 hrs

Zone 2 Secondary:
A release which is not expected to occur in
normal operation and if it does occur, is likely
to do so only infrequently and for short
periods. < 10 hrs
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and maintenance.
Month 2010 11
Removable Thermowell, Secondary Release
3m

Zone 2

RTD Element
3m

• Hazard

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 Example: Loading facility

 Gasoline top filling, outdoors, no vapor recovery.

Vapor density is greater then air.
Spillages excluded.

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Equipment involved:

All equipment that can cause:

• STATIC ELECTRICITY
• HEAT
• MECHANICAL FRICTION
• ELECTRICAL IGNITION
• SPARKS & ARCS
• THERMAL
• FLAME TRANSMISSION
These need to have some form of Ex specification
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Area Classification EASE OF IGNITION

GROUP I : MINING METHANE (firedamp)

GROUP II : SURFACE INDUSTRIES

least easily ignitable IIA PROPANE
IIB ETHYLENE
most easily ignitable IIC HYDROGEN

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Area Classification TEMPERATURE CATEGORY

Flammable fluids are temperature classified by their

ability to ignite when exposed to a hot surface.

Maximum allowable surface temperature

TEMP. CLASS DEG. C

T1 450
T2 300
T3 200
T4 135
T5 100
T6 85
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Area Classification TEMPERATURE CATEGORIES
OC

Maximum surface temperature

450

300

200

135
Maximum ambient
100 temperature 40 OC
85
T6 •T5 T4 T3 T2 T1

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The following statements are true or false:

A. The flashpoint of water is at 100 OC

B. Gas can not be ignited below UEL
C. Given LEL and UEL values are only valid under atmospheric pressure
D. An electrical spark will always ignite a combustible gas mixture
E. The energy required to ignite a gas is dependant on the type of gas

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Types of Protection

FLAME PROOF ENCLOSURE Ex d

INCREASED SAFETY Ex e

TYPE "N" PROTECTION Ex n

a) Selected industrial
b) Non-incendive
c) Restricted breathing

INTRINSICALLY SAFE Ex ia
Ex ib

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CONFIDENTIAL
hazard.19
Month 2010
 Certification European Marking

European Certified to
CENELEC Standards Temperature
class
EEx de IIC T6
Explosion Gas group
Method(s) of
protected apparatus
protection

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 CENELEC Symbol and ATEX Designation

Epsilon x
Distinctive Community Mark Equipment Group: I (for mines)
II (for other industry)

e c II 2 G
G for gasses, vapours & mists
D for dusts

Category: 1 (for Zone 0 in gas or Zone 20 in dust)

2 (for Zone 1 in gas or Zone 21 in dust)
3 (for Zone 2 in gas or Zone 22 in dust)

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Protection Construction Principles

1) ENSURE LOW IGNITION ENERGY

2) SEPARATE IGNITION SOURCE FROM HAZARD

3) AVOID FLAME PROPAGATION

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Selection According to Area Classification

ZONE 0 ZONE 2
 EEx ia  Any type suitable for Zone 1 or Zone 0
 Combined  EEx n

ZONE 1
 Any type suitable for
Zone 0
 EEx ib
 EEx d
 EEx e
 EEx p
 EEx m
 EEx q
 EEx o
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 Q&A

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