Brochure/Catalogue

The basics of explosion protection
Equipment protection level
(Equipment Protection Levels - EPL)
Mining operations at risk of redamp (Group I)
EPL Ma Devices to be installed in a mine that have a „very high“ level of protection; where there
is sufcient certainty that no ignition source exists, even when gases escape during
operations.
EPL Mb Devices to be installed in a mine that have a „high“ level of protection; where there is
sufcient certainty that that there will be no ignition source in the time that elapses
between the onset of escaping gas and the actual shut-down of the device.
see EN60079-0:2010
Gases (Group II)
EPL Ga Devices for use in explosive gas atmospheres with a „very high“ level of protection. Such
devices provide no ignition source in normal operations or during faults which are not
expected on a regular basis.
EPL Gb Devices for use in explosive gas atmospheres with a „high“ level of protection. Such
devices provide no ignition source in normal operations or during faults which are not
expected on a regular basis.
EPL Gc Devices for use in explosive gas atmospheres with an elevated level of protection. Such
devices provide no ignition source in normal operations. They also have additional
safeguards to ensure that in the case of regularly anticipated events (such as the failure
of a lamp) there is never an ignition source.
see EN60079-0:2010
Dusts (Group III)
EPL Da Devices for use in combustible dust atmospheres with a „very high“ degree of protection.
Such devices provide no ignition source in normal operations or during rarely occurring
faults.
EPL Db Devices for use in combustible dust atmospheres with a „high“ level of protection. Such
devices provide no ignition source in normal operations or during faults which are not
expected on a regular basis.
EPL Dc Devices for use in combustible dust atmospheres with an „elevated“ level of protection.
Such devices provide no ignition source in normal operations. They also have additional
safeguards to ensure that in the case of regularly anticipated events (such as the failure
of a lamp) there is never an ignition source.
see EN60079-0:2010
ATEX directive 2014/30/EU
Article 95 of the treaty establishing the European Union
concerns itself with aligning the directives of the various
member nations. Guided by the new strategy, ATEX
Directive 2014/30/EU species the basic safety and health
requirements. It is aimed at manufacturers of components
and devices which are intended for use in potentially
explosive atmospheres. In this directive, the product
requirements are dened according to equipment (device)
groups and equipment categories.
This is the category that, according to the ATEX Directive
2014/30/EU (see above), denes the usability for each
zone. Harmonised standards (protective strategies) can be
used to prove compliance with the basic safety and health
requirements.
Devices are divided into three equipment groups and
categories.
Equipment group I applies to equipment and devices
intended for use in the underground parts of mines, and to
those parts of sub-surface installations of such mines, liable
to be endangered by redamp and/or combustible dust.
Category M1
Products in this category must continue to operate in the
presence of an explosive atmosphere for safety reasons.
They feature explosion protective mechanisms which
function as follows:
• When one integrated protective mechanism fails, at least
one other protective mechanism is available to provide
the required safety level
• Or, the required level of safety is ensured even when two
faults occur that are independent of each other
Category M2
These products must be switched off whenever an explosive
atmosphere is present. However it is possible that an
explosive atmosphere could occur when the category-M2
device is operating and cannot be immediately switched
off. For this reason, such devices must be equipped with
protective measures which provide a high degree of safety.
The protective measures integrated in products of this
category provide the required degree of safety during normal
operations and also during difcult operating conditions due
to rough handling or uctuating environmental conditions.
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