Fluke 725 Application Note 2096417

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A brief look at

ATEX and its

impact in the US

What is “Intrinsically

Safe?”

Intrinsic safety is a protection

standard employed in poten-

tially explosive atmospheres.

Devices that are certified as

“intrinsically safe” are designed

to be unable to release suffi-

cient energy, by either thermal

or electrical means, to cause

ignition of flammable material

(gas, dust/particulates).

Intrinsically safe standards

apply to all equipment that can

create one or more of a range

of defined potential explosion

sources:

•Electrical sparks

•Electrical arcs

•Flames

•Hot surfaces

•Static electricity

•Electromagnetic radiation

•Chemical reactions

•Mechanical impact

•Mechanical friction

•Compression ignition

•Acoustic energy

•Ionizing radiation

What industries are

intrinsically safe

products designed for?

•Petro-chemical

•Oil platforms and refineries

•Pharmaceutical

•Bulk materials (e.g. grain)

•Mining

•Pipelines

•Any environment where

explosive gases are present

What organizations

are defining intrinsically

safe standards?

ATEX

The primary intrinsically safe

standard has been set in the

European Union with the

Directive 94/9/EC, commonly

called ATEX (“Atmosphères

Explosibles,” French for explo-

sive atmospheres). The stated

goal of the guidelines is to

“help ensure the free move-

ment of products in the

European Union” by “minimiz-

ing the number of safeguard

clause applications, at least

those originating from diver-

gent interpretations.” ATEX

is intended to serve as total

harmonization directive, laying

down essential health and

safety requirements, and

replacing existing divergent

national and European legisla-

tion which covers the same

subjects.

The ATEX rules have been

in place as a voluntary stan-

dard since March 1, 1996. The

rules are mandatory on electri-

cal and electronic equipment

for use in environments subject

to explosion hazard sold in the

EU as of July 1, 2003.

IEC

The International Electrotech-

nical Commission (IEC) is

responsible for setting interna-

tional standards for electrical

technology. Its technical com-

mittee TC31 deals with

explosion protection for electri-

cal apparatus. It has introduced

a procedure, the IECEx Scheme,

which is intended to become a

globally recognized test and

certification procedure for

explosion protection.

The objective of the IECEx

Scheme is to facilitate interna-

tional trade in electrical

equipment intended for use in

explosive atmospheres by:

•reducing testing and certifi-

cation costs to manufacturers

•reducing time to market

•providing international

confidence in the product

assessment process

•providing one international

database listing

The IECEx has not yet been

ratified.

Factory Mutual

In The United States, Factory

Mutual Research, managed by

Factory Mutual (FM) Global, is a

not-for-profit scientific and

testing organization that has

tested and certified over

40,000 products in the last 165

years. FM Research has set cer-

tification guidelines for

equipment used in potentially

explosive atmospheres.

NEC

The NFPA (National Fire

Protection Association) 70,

National Electrical Code, also

known as the NEC, is the basis

for all electrical codes in the

United States. Classifications

and related product markings

for hazardous areas are covered

in NEC 500 and 505. These are

similar to, but not exactly the

same as, those in ATEX.

OSHA

OSHA (Occupational Safety &

Health Administration of the

U.S. Department of Labor) par-

ticipates in the US-EU

Cooperation on Workplace

Safety & Health. This is a proj-

ect of the U.S. DOL, OSHA, and

the EU European Agency for

Health and Safety at Work. The

Application Note

From the Fluke Digital Library @ www.fluke.com/library

goal is to promote sharing of

information on current safety

and health topics of common

interest.

Intrinsic safety is covered

under Regulations (Standards -

29 CFR), Hazardous (classified)

locations 1910.307 and

1926.407. OSHA references the

NEC guidelines for determining

the type and design of equip-

ment and installations which

will meet this requirement.

There are no global intrinsi-

cally safe standards or

certifications.

Who is affected by the

ATEX intrinsically safe

standards?

Currently the standard affects

only manufacturers who are

selling product into the

European Union (EU) that are

intended for environments

subject to explosion hazard.

Considering the joint effort of

OSHA and the EU, the long-

term effect of ATEX may be a

global standard to which all

manufacturers would need to

comply.

What is the impact of

ATEX on manufacturers?

For manufacturers selling

devices designed to be used in

potentially explosive environ-

ments into the EU, they will

need to redesign the devices to

meet the standard and have

those devices certified that

they meet the regulations.

Manufacturers not selling

product in the EU are not

impacted.

Why is there so much

interest in intrinsically

safe products now?

The new ATEX regulations

have focused attention on the

issue of providing intrinsically

safe products in potentially

dangerous environments.

However, there has already

been a great deal of attention

placed on workplace safety by

regulatory groups as well as

manufacturers.

Fluke has always focused

strongly on safety in all its

products. The company has

sought industry-wide protec-

tion measures to help ensure

safe working conditions and

product specifications for elec-

trical technicians, whatever the

field in which they work.

The Fluke 707Ex mA

Calibrator is the first test tool

from Fluke developed specifi-

cally for use in hazardous

environments such as petro-

chemical plants, oil platforms

and refineries and other loca-

tions subject to risk of

explosion.

The ATEX-compliant 707Ex

mA Calibrator is compliant in

relation to Zones 1 & 2 as

defined by CENELEC (the

European Committee for

Electrotechnical Standardization,

which is recognized by the EC

as the European Standards

Organization in its field). In

these zones hydrocarbons

and/or gases may be present

during either normal or abnor-

mal operation, respectively.

This means that in Zone 1

potentially explosive atmos-

pheres may be present

occasionally, while in Zone 2

they may be present only

rarely and will be of a short

duration.

2 Fluke Corporation A brief look at ATEX and its impact in the US

Fluke Corporation

PO Box 9090, Everett, WA USA 98206

Fluke Europe B.V.

PO Box 1186, 5602 BD

Eindhoven, The Netherlands

For more information call:

In the U.S.A. (800) 443-5853 or

Fax (425) 446-51

16

In Europe/M-East/Africa (31 40) 2 675 200 or

Fax (31 40) 2 675 222

Canada (800)-36-FLUKE or

Fax (905) 890-6866

Other countries (425) 446-5500 or

Fax (425) 446-5116

Web access: http://www.fluke.com

©2004 Fluke Corporation. All rights reserved.

Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Printed in U.S.A. 10/2004 2096417 A-US-N Rev C

Fluke. Keeping your world

up and running.

707Ex: Intrinsically Safe mA Calibrator

N.I. Class I Div 2 Groups A-D T4

II 2 G EEx ia IIC T4

ZELM 02 ATEX 0120 X

Ta = -10 °C to +50 °C

718Ex: Intrinsically Safe

Pressure Calibrator

I.S. Class I Div 1 Groups A-D T4

AEx ia IIC T4

II 1 G EEx ia IIC T4

KEMA 04 ATEX 1061

Ta = -10 °C to +55 °C

725Ex: Intrinsically Safe

Multifunction Calibrator

I.S. Class I Div 1 Groups B-D 171 °C

AEx ia IIB 171 °C

II 1 G EEx ia IIB 171 °C

KEMA 04 ATEX 1303X

Ta = 0 °C to +55 °C