NORD Drivesystems B1000 - Manual (Page 34)

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INTRODUCTION
G1000 – Subject to Change Without Notice
ATEX
Information
ATEX Explosion Protection for the
European Union
The term ATEX is derived from an old French directive
titled “ATmospheres EXplosives” and is used to help
protect people and equipment from potential explo-
sive hazards. Explosive environments are usually the
product of oxygen mixing with ignitable gases or air-
borne or settled ignitable dust. Gear drive systems
may operate in areas with potentially explosive gas-
air and dust-air mixtures; therefore NORD manufac-
tures drive systems with special explosion protection
to safely operate in these potentially dangerous envi-
ronments.
Integrated explosion protection indicates measures
should be taken to:
• Prevent the development of potentially explosive
environments
• Avoiding ignition of potentially explosive environments
• Limit the impact of an explosion to safe confi nes
In 1994 the European Parliament issued EU directive
94/9/EC commonly called the “equipment or product
directive”, which regulates the legal requirements for
equipment and protective systems intended for use in
potentially explosive environments. Another direc-
tive was also created called the “worker protection
directive” 1999/92/EC to protect workers and work-
place property.
Product Directive 94/9/EC
Defi nes the equipment and cer-
tifi
cation requirements of the
equipment builder. Specifi cally
equipment builders are required
to label their products by catego-
ries according to ignition risks in
a potentially explosive environ-
ment.
Workers Protection Directive
1999/92/EC
Defi nes the duties of the end
user. Specifi cally the end user
has to specify hazardus areas
within a plant or property called
zones.
Some of the basic safety requirements met by this
standard are listed below
Standards for electrical equipment:
• DIN EN 60079-0 General Requirements
• DIN EN 60079-1 Flameproof enclosure “d”
• DIN EN 60079-7 Increased safety “e”
• DIN EN 60079-15 Non-sparking “n”
• DIN EN 50281 Combustible dust
Standards for mechanical equipment:
• EN 13463 Series of standards
• EN 13463-1 Basic method
• EN13463-5 Constructional safety
Comparison between ATEX and
North American Explosion Protection
ATEX directive 94/9/EC for explosion proof application
is a mandatory requirement throughout the Europe-
an Union and many other countries have adopted the
directive as well. The ATEX directive is not required
for North American installations, which use the Class/
Division standard set by NEC/CEC.
The two systems are not easily compared since they
were developed independently, but they both have
been proven to be effective safety systems for use in
hazardous areas. The Class/Division system is more
straightforward by leaving little interpretation to the
classifi cation and which electrical materials can and
cannot be used. The ATEX method allows for more
application solutions because equipment is marked
by its protection type and the user bears the responsi-
bility to apply the proper equipment protection in
each zone. ATEX also requires mechanical compo-
nent protection like gear units, where the
Class/Division system does not.