HAZARDOUS AREA CLASSIFICATION

Almost all refineries, chemical and petrochemical industries handle various kinds of fluids/materials, which
can create flammable atmosphere in the plant and can lead to fire. It is necessary to identify such areas
and take preventive measures by selecting appropriate electrical equipment to avoid the occurrence of
fire. Attempt has been made to explain in brief, some basic facts about the classification of hazardous
areas, various protection methods and intrinsic safety techniques. As majority of hazardous areas pertain
to flammable gases/vapours, the scope of this article has been restricted to these fluids.

BASICS OF HAZARDOUS AREA:

Hazardous area is an area in which explosive atmosphere is or may be present in a sufficient quantity and
usage of guided by specific norms with respect to construction as well as installation. Some of the
terminologies commonly associated with hazardous area have been explained below:
 Source of release: A point or location from which a flammable gas, vapour or liquid may be
released into the atmosphere.
 Grade of release: These are continuous, primary and second grade. It depends upon volume and
duration of the release.
 Ventilation: Movement of air and its replacement with fresh air due to the effect of wind,
temperature gradients or artificial means.
 Lower explosive limit (LEL): The concentration of flammable gas or vapour in air, below which the
gas atmosphere is not explosive.
 Upper explosive limit (UEL): The concentration of flammable gas or vapour in air, above which the
gas atmosphere is not explosive.
 Flashpoint (FP): The lowest liquid temperature at which liquid gives of sufficient vapour for ignition
to occur when it comes in contact with naked flame.
 Ignition temperature: The lowest temperature of the heated surface at which the ignition of
flammable gas or vapour mixture with air will occur.

AREA CLASSIFICATION

Area classification is usually done by the chemical engineers who have knowledge of the properties of the
flammable fluids e.g. whether they are heavier or lighter than air, process and equipments, source of
release and its grade/concentration. It complies with national or international standards based on a
common set of minimum ignition curves generated by testing with spark-test apparatus. Most common
examples of standards are, IEC-60079 in Europe and NEC Article-500 in North America. Recently, USA and
Canada permit use of IEC. Indian standard is also similar to IEC standard. Complete area classification
constitutes presence of flammable gas, gas grouping and temperature classification. Its representation can
be, Zone1, Gr. IIA/IIB, T3 as per IEC or Class I, Div1, Gr. C/D, T3 as per NEC.

Presence of flammable gas: TABLE-1 gives classification examples as per IEC and NEC based on presence of
flammable gas

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 Presence of flammable
Occurrence IEC NEC
gas

Continuous, under normal

> 1000 hrs/year Zone 0 Class I Division 1
operating conditions

Intermittent, likely to between 10 ~ 1000

Zone 1 Class I Division 1
occur in normal operation hrs/year

Short time, under

abnormal operating or between 0.1 ~ 10 hrs/year Zone 2 Class I Division 2
fault conditions
TABLE-1: CLASSIFICATION EXAMPLES

Gas Grouping: Gas grouping is based on the minimum spark energy required to create an explosion in a
specified flammable gas mixtures. TABLE-2 gives gas-grouping examples.
Min. Ignition
Gas IEC gas group NEC gas group
Energy
Acetylene 20µj IIC A
Hydrogen 20µj IIC B
Ethylene 60µj IIB C
Propane 180µj IIA D

Temperature classification: This relates to maximum temperature of a piece of apparatus to the gas ignition
temperature. It is also a maximum surface temperature of apparatus produced under fault conditions at an ambient
temperature of 40°C. TABLE-3 give gas-temperature classification.
There is no relationship between ignition energy and ignition temperature. Hydrogen gas need ignition energy of
20µj but require T1 marked equipment as its ignition temperature is 560°C, while acetaldehyde need ignition energy
of 150µj but require T4 marked equipment due to its lower ignition temperature of 140°C. Also flash point and
ignition temperature are not the same. Flashpoint is appreciably lower than ignition temperature. Kerosene has
flashpoint of 38°C and ignition temperature of 210°C, hence require T3 marked equipment.

Temp. Class Max. surface temp. Typical gases

T1 450°C Hydrogen, Propane
T2 300°C Ethylene, Butane
T3 200°C Kerosene, Naphtha
T4 135°C Acetaldehyde, Ether
T5 100°C Carbon Disulfide
T6 85°C Nil

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FUNDAMETALS ABOUT FIRE:

For occurrence of fire, simultaneous presence of the following is essential:

 Flammable gas or dust: Source of this is leaks from pump seals, tanks/vessels, pipe flanges/fittings,
valves, safety/breather valves, etc.
 Oxygen: Source of this is atmospheric air.
 Ignition source: Source of this is motors, light fittings, instruments, etc.

PREVENTION OF FIRE:

Measures should be taken to prevent fire to protect person’s life, plant equipment and machinery and also
to eliminate production loss. Occurrence of fire can be prevented in any of the following methods:

 By containment of explosion and prevent propagation of fire to the hazardous area

 By eliminating occurrence of explosive atmosphere around the source of ignition by method of
separation/segregation
 By method of prevention e.g. restricting release of energy in the explosive atmosphere, so that
ignition can not take place

METHOD OF PROTECTION:

There are various methods of protection of which most commonly used are discussed in brief below. Any
protection method is not useful, if the apparatus is not well protected from the weather. Hence usage of
IP55 rated apparatus in the field and IP20 in the control room are always recommended.

Flameproof or explosion-proof apparatus (Ex ‘d’): This is a containment method. This apparatus is not
capable of igniting the surrounding atmosphere, under practical conditions of operation e.g. overloads and
faults. It is designed to withstand the internal explosions, restricts passing of internal flames to external
atmosphere, restrict maximum surface temperature below the ignition temperature of the hazardous area.
Explosion-proof enclosures are constructed to withstand 4 times the explosive pressure of gases.
Flameproof enclosures can be constructed to withstand 1.5 times the explosive pressure of gases if each
enclosure is tested to this pressure.

Pressurization (Ex ‘p’): This is a segregation/separation method. In this method explosive gas mixture and
source of ignition are kept separate by a pressure barrier and/or continuous dilution. In zone2, pressure
failure alarm is required while in zone1, removal of power is required. This method is widely used for
process analysis equipment and solving difficult applications. In this method purge air, air filter regulator,
pressure indicator and pressure switch is used.

Encapsulation (Ex ‘m’): This protection method is based on segregation, usually those electrical parts that
by means of sparks or heating can ignite a dangerous mixture are potted in resin resistant to the specific
ambient conditions. In preventing explosion or fire, this method is used as complement to other protection
methods.

Oil immersion (Ex ‘o’): In this method, all parts of the electrical apparatus are immersed in oil such that the
explosive atmosphere outside the level of oil cannot be ignited. This method is generally used for large
electrical apparatus e.g. transformers. This method, however, is not suitable where frequent maintenance
is required.

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Powder filling (Ex ‘q’): This method is similar to oil immersion. In this case, the electrical components
which can generate spark are covered with powder and encapsulated and thus explosive atmosphere
outside cannot be ignited. Generally, quartz powder with recommended granule structure is used for filling
and care should be taken to ensure any empty space.

Increase safety (Ex e): This is a prevention method. It is applied to electrical apparatus that does not
contain normally arcing or sparking devices or hot surfaces that might cause ignition. Equipment needs to
be built so that there is chance of sparking or of dangerous overheating. This requires use of extra
insulation material, wide spacing between parts of opposite polarity, good thermal design. This method is
widely used for motors, light fittings and junction boxes.

Non-incendive (Ex n): This is a prevention method. This apparatus is not capable of igniting surrounding
atmospheres under normal operating conditions and any fault capable of causing ignition is not likely to
occur. Surface temperature does not exceed ignition temperature of gases. This is used only in zone2 area
and for instruments.

Intrinsic safety (Ex i): This is a prevention method. It restricts electrical energy available in hazardous area
circuits such that any sparks or hot surfaces that may occur as a result of electrical faults are too weak to
cause ignition of explosive atmosphere.

According to CENELEC EN50020 standard, two categories of intrinsic safety have been specified as below:

 Ex ia: where explosion protection is maintained with two component or other faults. This device
can be used in zone 0, 1, and 2 hazardous area.
 Ex ib: where explosion protection is maintained with one component or other faults. This device
can be used in zone 1, and 2 hazardous area.

Intrinsic safety is the only method that protects not only the apparatus in hazardous area, but also its
wiring, expected breakage, short circuiting, accidental grounding etc. Maintenance and checks can be
carried out even when the circuit remains powered and the plant is operating.

Identification and Marking of protection:

All devices associated with hazardous area loop are marked with identification as per applicable standard.
Typical CENELEC marking for intrinsic safety devices is illustrated below:

[EEx ia] IIC T6 for zener barrier or EEx ia IIC T6 for transmitter

where,
[ ] – Associated apparatus ; EEx – Explosion protected item
ia – Protection method ; IIC – Gas group
T6 – Temperature classification

As this method is widely used in instruments, we will explore this subject in little more depth.
Terminologies associated with intrinsic safety are as under:

Simple apparatus: Apparatus which stores or does not generate energy more than 1.5V, 100mA and
25mW. These are thermocouples, RTD, LED, and switches. These devices do not require certification.

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IS apparatus: Specially designed and certified energy storing electrical apparatus used in hazardous area.
These are field instruments such as transmitters, solenoid valves, I/P converters, etc. A typical transmitter
is marked as EEx ia IIC T6 as per CENELEC.

IS interface (associated apparatus): Specially designed device to restrict electrical energy applied to
apparatus located in hazardous area. These are installed in control room, if installed in hazardous area,
they must be housed in flameproof or pressurized enclosure. A typical barrier is marked as [EEx ia] IIC T6 as
per CENELEC.

There are two types of devices used viz. zener barriers or isolating barriers. Zener barrier use zener diode
while isolating barriers uses transformers. Zener barriers does not provide isolation and require regulated
power supply, earth conductor resistance of < 1 ohm. As they are loop powered, its end-to-end resistance
reduce the voltage available to field transmitter. All these disadvantages are not seen in isolating barriers
but its cost is high, separate power is required, heat dissipation is more and packing density is less.

Entity concept: Figure-1 illustrates one complete loop with transmitter, loop powered indicator and
barrier.

Entity concept allows interconnection of IS apparatus to Associated apparatus and the complete loop need
not be certified by external agency. This allows use of any manufacturer’s device in the loop and does not
restrict user to one vendor. The definitions of the entity parameters are listed below:

IS apparatus entity parameters:

Ui = Maximum safe voltage which can be applied to apparatus terminals
Ii = Maximum safe current which can be applied to apparatus terminals
Ci = Unprotected capacitance of apparatus at its terminals
Li = Unprotected inductance of apparatus at its terminals

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Associated apparatus entity parameters:
UO = Maximum output voltage which can be applied to hazardous area
Io = Maximum output current which can be applied to hazardous area
Co = Maximum capacitance which can be connected to the apparatus
Lo = Maximum inductance which can be connected to the apparatus

Generally, in an intrinsic safety system, electrical apparatus in hazardous area is connected to apparatus in
safe area through certified interface with the help of cable. To maintain the loop operation within the safe
limits, observe following relationship after considering all elements in the loop including cable.
Ui ≥ UO , Ii ≥ Io, Ci ≤ Co, Li ≤ Lo

Electrical apparatus used in hazardous/explosive environment requires special protection and method of
installation. There are various methods out of which explosion proof Ex’d’ and intrinsic safety Ex’i’ are
more popular in instrumentation field.
In case of explosion proof Ex’d’, the apparatus to be used in the hazardous area needs to be certified by
statutory agency. In case of intrinsic safety Ex’i’, in addition to certification by statutory agency, the overall
entity parameters of installed apparatus and associated wiring need to be within the safe limits specified
by manufacturers for particular hazardous area. However, the overall loop does not need any certification.

SUMMARY OF PROTECTION METHODS:

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