ATEX Handout PDF
ATEX Handout PDF
ATEX Handout PDF
Because of these criteria, simple items such as hammers are not covered as they do not generate sparks in and of
themselves (only when struck against another item), and some mechanical devices such as hand-operated valves
are excluded under statements issued by the EEC, as they are not considered to move fast enough to generate any
frictional heat sufficient to cause ignition.
The IECEx scheme is controlled by the International Electrotechnical Commission, and covers electrical equipment for
use in explosive atmospheres. IECEx uses different codes and approvals systems, but also requires detailed information
on the product label. IECEx does not currently apply to non-electrical equipment.
Many modern devices will carry both ATEX and IECEx approval, and so the label will display codes and information
from both schemes. Some of that information is common, some is not. A typical ATEX and IECEx label is shown below.
Name and address of the manufacturer(s) who hold the production quality assurance certificate. Where an item is
manufactured in several locations as part of an assembly chain, all addresses must be shown.
The CE marking - shall be at least 5mm in height wherever possible, and shall be followed by the serial number of
the Notified Body certifying the production assurance system or type examination.
Type or model reference, and serial number (if any).
Year of manufacture - this may be part of the serial number, to simplify printing of labels or castings.
The ATEX Marking - the hexagon symbol, immediately followed by the equipment group and category.
Additional marking as required for safe use - such as the explosion
classification, ambient temperature limit, supply voltage, etc. - the
Directive requires this information to be shown but does not define
exactly what it is, rather the various product standards (EN and IEC)
will each define certain fields and symbols to display.
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Group II is divided into three categories, 1, 2 and 3, based on how frequently the explosive atmosphere will be present.
Within the ATEX code, the permitted fuel types are shown by G for gases, mists and vapours, and/or D for flammable
dusts. In the IECEx scheme we also have group III, referring to dusts in non-mining applications.
IECEx and the ATEX Workplace Directive 1999/92/EC also use zones, and differentiate between gas- and dust-
based fuels by prefixing the zone number with 2 if the fuel is a dust. It is important to remember that ATEX 94
category numbers are one higher than zone numbers, so zone 0 = category 1.
IEC & ATEX 99 Zone ATEX 94
Protection level Description
Gases & vapours Dusts Category
Explosive atmospheres are present continually
0 20 1 Very high
or for long periods or frequently.
Explosive atmospheres are likely to occur under
1 21 2 High
normal operations, occasionally.
Explosive atmospheres are not expected to
2 22 3 Normal occur under normal operations. Where they do
occur, it will be for a short period only.
Many products are approved for use in more than one group, or are designed for boundary installation (where they
span a bulkhead between two zones) or contained installation where they are placed in an area that is different to the
classification of the atmosphere they are handlingfor example an extract fan may be carrying gases from a category
IIA enclosure, but itself is only designed to be installed in a category IIC area. In these cases the ATEX marking will
show both categories, divided by a forward slash. Where a device performs as an external safety device only
(such as the control panel for a series of zone-0 fire detectors) but is not in and of itself approved for use in
that category, the number will be shown in brackets. A hyphen indicates the equipment is not approved for Ex use.
The table below shows some typical examples of ATEX markings. Note how some of these examples refer to equipment
which cannot be used in an EX location! The presence and position of the hyphen is all-important.
ATEX Marking Explanation
E I M2 Mining equipment, category 2, for de-energized use.
E II 1 GD Non-mining equipment, category 1 (zone 0), for gases and dusts
Non-mining equipment, suitable for use in category 2 (zone 1) containing a safety
E II 2(1) G device for connection to equipment in caegory 1 (zone 0).
A non-mining safety device with intrinsically-safe circuits, for use with category 1
E II (1) GD equipment, but which itself cannot be installed in an EX zone.
A non-mining safety device which protects both category 1 and category 2 equipment,
E II (2)G (1)G but which itself cannot be installed in an EX zone.
E II 1/2 G A device installed on the boundary of category 1 and 2 (zones 0 and 1).
E II 3/- D A device handling dust from category 3 but which cannot be installed in an Ex zone.
E II -/1 G A device handling non-explosive gas, but installed within category 1 (zone 0).
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The Classification begins with Ex or EEx the latter denotes that the equipment has been certified against an EN
standard, and Ex denotes it has been certified against an international or IEC standard.
Next will be the protection concept, a case-sensitive code showing what measures the equipment uses to effect
safety. These codes are described on the next pages.
Next may be the Gas Group or Dust Group to which this Classification refers. See later for explanations of these.
Next is temperature class, either using a T-number for ATEX, or the temperature value in C for IECEx (see below).
The equipment protection level (EPL) from IEC/EN 60079 is usually last in the sequence, but there may be an IP rating.
Temperature classes
Class Max surface temp
The maximum possible surface temperature of equipment is shown in the T1 450 C
ATEX Explosion Classification as a T value, ranging from T1 to T6 in order of
decreasing value (so T6 is safer). New in IEC 60079-0:2011 is the concept of T2 300 C
marking a range of certified temperatures with an ellipsis, such as T4 ... T6. T3 200 C
Under IECEx, the maximum possible surface temperature is printed as a
T4 135 C
real value in C, so the code may be T200C rather than T3. For dust- T5 100 C
based atmospheres, the IECEx sequence will also show the maximum surface T6 85 C
temperature in C with a certain covering of dust. For example the code T250
300C means that with a 250 millimetre covering of dust, the maximum
surface temperature of the equipment is 300C.
When selecting equipment, it is crucial that the self-ignition temperature of the fuel is significantly-above the maximum
possible surface temperature. As the surface temperature and performance of equipment will depend on the external
(ambient) temperature, the permitted ambient temperature range is also usually shown on the ATEX product label.
Where it is not shown, the assumed range is -20C to +40C.
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IECEx defines three levels of equipment protection, a, b and c the EPL code prefixes them with M for mines, G
for gases or D for dusts. Level c is for surface industries only - only Ma and Mb are permitted.
Some protection concept codes include the EPL for example the Intrinsic Safety protection concept codes are ia,
ib and ic, referring to EPLs a, b and c respectively. In these cases there is no requirement to mark the EPL as a
separate part of the Explosion Classification, so Ex ia IIA Ga T5 and Ex ia IIA T5 are identical.
IP Protection rating
The Ingress Protection rating defined in IEC/EN 60529 is a measure of the resistance of an enclosure to penetration
by dust or liquid, and is not specifically an Ex concept. Several of the EN/IEC standards do require the IP rating to be
shown as part of the Explosion Classification, but having an IP rating in and of itself is not proof the equipment is
safe to use in an explosive atmosphere. Note that the IP rating system considers ingress which is harmful, so an
IPx8 product may still show some ingress of water when submersed, but not enough to cause any malfunction.
Digit First digit - against solid bodies Second digit - against liquids
0 NO PROTECTION NO PROTECTION
1 Objects > 50mm Vertical (90) dripping water (showerproof)
2 Objects > 12mm 70 to 90 dripping water (rainproof)
3 Objects > 2.5mm Sprayed water up to 60 from vertical
4 Objects > 1mm Splashed water from any direction
5 Dust-protected (minor ingress) Jets of water from any angle, hose diameter 6.3mm
6 Dust-tight (no ingress) Heavy jets from any angle, hose diameter 12.5mm
7 Immersion to a depth of 100cm
8 Submersion to a specified death over 100cm
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These protection concepts are defined in the multipart IEC/EN 60079 standard, and each is suitable for certain zones
and fuel types. How they work are explained on the next page.
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* Mechanical protection concepts g and p are recent introductions, and at the time of writing their associated EN
standards remain provisional.
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Gas groups
ATEX defines four groups of gases, based on how Common gases and
Gas Group Test gas
easily-ignitable they are (by a flame or spark; not via self- their temperature class
ignition). In Group I (mining) there is only one gas group, I (mining) Methane Methane (aka firedamp)
namely methane (aka firedamp). Group I equipment
has no concept of a temperature class. acetone - T1
petroleum fuel - T1
For each non-mining gas group there is a test gas ammonia - T1
used as the reference standard, though each contains ethane - T1
many gases, which will have a different self-ignition methanol - T1
temperature and a range of explosive concentrations. carbon monoxide - T1
Common gases are defined in EN 60079-20 and some IIA Propane propane - T1
examples are shown in the table on the right. n-butane - T2
ethanol - T2
Groups IIA, IIB and IIC are in increasing order of
sensitivity to ignition sources, so equipment designed diesel fuel- T3
for use in gas group IIB is also safe to use in the less- kerosene - T3
ignitable gas group IIA, and equipment designed for use avgas fuel - T3
in gas group IIC can be used with gas groups IIA, IIB ethyl nitrite - T6
and IIC. coal gas - T1
ethylene - T2
Equipment designed for gas group IIB may, on occasion, IIB Ethylene
ethyl oxide - T2
be certified for a specific gas from group IIC without
having full gas group IIC approval. In this case, the hydrogen sulphide - T3
chemical name or formula of the additional gas will be hydrogen - T1
shown, for example IIB + C2H2 means the equipment IIIC Hydrogen acetylene - T2
is rated for gas group IIB, and is also rated for acetylene. carbon disulphide - T6
Gas groups are only of importance when the protection concept used by a piece of equipment is related to the
ignitability of the fuel for example intrinsically-safe Ex i protection needs to know the minimum energy of a spark
that could lead to ignition. Encapsulated Ex m equipment cannot expose the fuel to any source of ignition, and so
does not need to refer to a gas group in the code sequence.
Dust groups
IEC 60079-0:2007 defines the new atmosphere group III for explosive dusts in surface industries (i.e. ATEX group II).
There are three dust groups in the standard, defined by the properties of the dust:
For example, cotton has self-ignition temperatures of 560C (suspended) and 350C (accumulated). Your equipments
maximum surface temperature must be less than 373C (suspended) and 275C (accumulated), so the limit is 275C.
Equipment classified T3 (200C) is acceptable, but T2 (300C) is not.
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