IEC 60079 Application

APPLICATION of IEC 60079

(IEC 60079 driving the Safe,

Oil & Gas Industry)

IEC 60079 is a set of documents with details of Standards & Specifications which encompasses all aspects of Flammable Gas or Combustible Dust laden areas .

The first set of documents to consider are as follows:
IEC 60079-0
IEC 60079-10-1
IEC 60079-14
These documents will give us the guide lines for the:-
1. General requirements for construction, testing and marking of electrical equipment & components for use in explosive gas atmospheres.

2. Classification of areas –exclusive: Explosive gas atmospheres

3. The specific requirements for the :designs, selection,erection and initial inspection of electrical installations in, or associated with, explosive atmospheres.

The first step is to analyze the area under consideration as per guide-lines of IEC 60079-10-1 for marking of ZONES

A view of the Hazardous Area through the analyzing perspective of IEC 60079-10 will guide us to mark the boundaries of the three zones .

The Zone defining GRID of IEC 60079-10. Zone 0 in the Center , surrounded by Zone 1 and Zone 2

Boundaries of the THREE Zones may be marked physically but usually the ZONES are marked on the drawings and physical manifestation is indirectly carried out by the selection of installed components & systems as per guide lines of IEC 60079-10-1 and IEC 60079-14 so that the ZONES are always underlying . (see figure above)

Once the hazardous boundaries are marked , the next step is to analyze the magnitude of the Hazard. The following simple graphic representation shows the logical relation between the Zones & the DEPTH (Magnitude of the Hazard).

For the safe operation of the electrical equipment the corresponding SAFETY PARAMETERS should be matched.

Now its time to select the EQUIPMENT to be installed in the Hazardous Area.

IEC 60079-14  (Explosive atmospheres – Part 14: Electrical installations design, selection and erection ) gives us the guidelines for this .

The next step would be to compare & choose the most suitable and complied equipment offered by different manufacturers of the Hazardous Area equipment.  (One important parameter is the History of the Manufacturer which can give us clarity as to the reliability of its products…. https://expeltec.com/95-1-expertdesk-ii/ )

…..cont.