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Lecture 09 - Ex P

Electrical equipment is housed in an enclosure that is maintained at a slight overpressure of at least 50 Pa with air or inert gas to prevent flammable gases from entering. Standards for pressurized enclosures include EN 50016 and BS 5501. Equipment inside is protected by monitoring the initial purge and ongoing overpressure through the use of pressure switches, flow meters, and controllers to alarm or isolate if pressure drops below safe levels.

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Mohamed Hamed
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54 views8 pages

Lecture 09 - Ex P

Electrical equipment is housed in an enclosure that is maintained at a slight overpressure of at least 50 Pa with air or inert gas to prevent flammable gases from entering. Standards for pressurized enclosures include EN 50016 and BS 5501. Equipment inside is protected by monitoring the initial purge and ongoing overpressure through the use of pressure switches, flow meters, and controllers to alarm or isolate if pressure drops below safe levels.

Uploaded by

Mohamed Hamed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pressurisation, Ex p

Electrical equipment is housed in an enclosure


that is maintained at a slight overpressure
with air or inert gas

• Standards:
– EN 50016:1995 (‘second edition’)
– EN 50016:1977 (‘first edition’)
• identical to BS 5501:Part 3:1977

Ex p - slide 1 of 8
Typical Ex p arrangement

Pressure Switch

Outlet Control

Ignition-
capable
Protective gas equipment Flow Meter
Fan

Controller
Non-hazardous Hazardous area
area

Ex p - slide 2 of 8
Types of Ex p equipment
• Leakage compensation (air or inert gas)
– flammable gas analysers
– VDUs
– motors
• Continuous circulation (air also acts as coolant)
– motors
• Continuous dilution (usually air)
– control rooms
– analyser houses
• Static pressurisation (inert gas - portable items only)
– torches

Ex p - slide 3 of 8
Required overpressure
• Minimum 50 Pa (0.5 mbar) required
– If pressure falls below this level, the controller can usually
be programmed to react depending on the risk

Zone Equipment is Equipment is not


ignition-capable ignition capable

1 Alarm & trip Alarm only

2 Alarm only Alarm only

Ex p - slide 4 of 8
Constructional requirements
• Monitoring of initial purge
• Manual purge over-ride not allowed (except zone 2)
• Monitoring of overpressure throughout enclosure
• Overpressure protection
• Alarm, possibly isolation, if pressure falls <50 Pa
• Avoid ‘dead spots’
• Capacitors, batteries, etc. must be intrinsically safe

Ex p - slide 5 of 8
Maintenance

• Is air ‘clean’, intake in ‘safe’ area?


• All ducting above ambient pressure?
• Are alarms working at correct settings?
• Verify the initial purge
• Does the enclosure leak?

[Key by-pass may be provided for live testing]

Ex p - slide 6 of 8
Advantages

• Allows uncertified equipment into a hazardous area


– some equipment cannot be certified to another concept
• Few limitations on internal equipment
• No limit to enclosure size
– can be a number of connected enclosures
• Caters for all flammable gases
• Can be modified for flammable dusts
• Easy to achieve T6

Ex p - slide 7 of 8
Disadvantages

• Enclosure and ducting may leak


• Energy costs in maintaining pressure
• Modifications may be required to avoid ‘dead spots’
• Rather complex/expensive for small items

Ex p - slide 8 of 8

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