Overview of CE certification of explosion-proof equipment (ATEX directive):

ATEX atmosphere explosive on March 23rd, 1994, the European Commission adopted the directive "equipment and protective systems for potentially explosive atmospheres" (94/9/ec). The new ATEX directive 2014/34/eu was issued in 2014 and enforced on April 20, 2016, with no transition period.

This directive covers mine and non mine equipment. Different from the previous directives, it includes mechanical equipment and electrical equipment, and extends the potential explosion hazard environment to dust, combustible gas, combustible vapor and mist in the air. It stipulates the application technical requirements, basic health and safety requirements of the equipment to be used in potentially explosive environments, and the conformity assessment procedures that must be adopted before the equipment is put into the European market within its scope of use.

Core requirements of ATEX explosion-proof Directive:

Protect people's safety and health, as well as the health and property safety of livestock under certain circumstances, especially to protect workers from hazards caused by equipment and systems applicable to potentially explosive environments. ATEX certified product range:

1. Products involved in ATEX certification

ATEX certification is applicable to a wide range of equipment, generally including fixed offshore platforms, petrochemical plants, flour mills and other places that may have potentially explosive environments.

1) ATEX certified electrical equipment:

Electrical equipment refers to the equipment that contains electronic components and is used to generate, store, distribute and convert electric energy or the control equipment that uses electric energy as energy

2) ATEX certified non electrical equipment

Only mechanically moving equipment, these moving parts will produce ignition sources (such as hot surfaces, friction sparks, etc.), such as reducer, fan, compressor, brake, mixer. Non electrical equipment is usually connected with electrical equipment to provide kinetic energy.

2. Products not covered by ATEX certification:

1) Medical devices intended for use in a medical environment

2) Explosion hazards are those equipment and protective systems that are completely caused by explosive substances or unstable chemical substances;

3) Equipment intended for use in domestic and non-commercial environments, where potentially explosive gases are rarely formed;

4) If it happens, it is only the result of gas leakage accident;

5) Personal protective devices included in directive 89/686/eec;

6) Nautical vessels and mobile offshore installations together with their equipment;

7) Means of transport, that is, vehicles and their trailers specially used to transport passengers through air or road, railway or water transport networks, and means of transport designed to transport goods through air, road or railway networks or waterways. Vehicles intended for use in explosive atmospheres will not be included.

ATEX certified area classification

According to the protection level of the installed equipment, ATEX directive can divide the equipment into three categories:

(1) Category 1 - very high level of protection

(2) Category 2 - high protection level

(3) Category 3 - normal protection level

Classification of equipment

1. The ATEX directive divides equipment into three categories according to explosive atmospheres:

Category 1 (category I, i.e. zone 0) - coal mine and methane environment

Class 2 (Category II, i.e. zone 1) - plant gas environment

IIC: the representative gas is hydrogen

IIb: the representative gas is ethylene

IIA: the representative gas is propane

Category III (i.e. zone 2) - dust environment

Ⅲ C: conductive dust

IIb: non conductive dust

Ⅲ A: Combustible flocs

2. If the equipment is used in Zone 0, 1 or 2, the category number is followed by the letter m/g/d

M represents coal mine environment, G represents gas environment, and D represents dust environment.

3. The protection level of electrical equipment, of which a is the highest.

Coal mine: EPL Ma EPL MB

Gas: EPL GA EPL GB EPL GC dust: EPL Da EPL DB EPL DC