Electrical Equipment in Hazardous Areas - Divisions or Zones (gases, Vapors and Dust.)

Divisions or Zones (gases, Vapors and Dust.)

In an industrial plant such as a refinery or chemical process plant, handling of large quantities of flammable liquids and gases creates a risk of leaks. In some cases the gas, ignitable vapor or dust is present all the time or for long periods. Other areas would have a dangerous concentration of flammable substances only during process upsets, equipment deterioration between maintenance periods, or during an incident. Refineries and chemical plants are then divided into areas of risk of release of gas, vapor or dust known as divisions or zones. The process of determining the type and size of these hazardous areas is called area classification. Guidance on assessing the extent of the hazard is given in the NFPA 497 Standard, or API 500 and according to their adaptation by other areas gas zones is given in the current edition of IEC 60079.10. For hazardous dusts, the guiding standard is IEC 61421.10.

Typical gas hazards are from hydrocarbon compounds, but hydrogen and ammonia are common industrial gases that are flammable.

Safe area

An area such as a residence or office would be classed as safe area, where the only risk of a release of explosive or flammable gas would be such things as the propellant in an aerosol spray. The only explosive or flammable liquid would be paint and brush cleaner. These are classed as very low risk of causing an explosion and are more of a fire risk (although gas explosions in residential buildings do occur). Safe area on chemical and other plant are present where the hazardous gas is diluted to a concentration below 25% of its lower flammability limit (or lower explosive limit (LEL)).

Division 2 or Zone 2 area

This is a step up from the safe area. In this zone the gas, vapor or mist would only be present under abnormal conditions (most often leaks under abnormal conditions). As a general guide for Zone 2, unwanted substances should only be present under 10 hours/year or 0–0.1% of the time.

Division 1 or Zone 1 area

Gas, vapor or mist will be present or expected to be present for long periods of time under normal operating conditions. As a guide for Zone 1, this can be defined as 10–1000 hours/year or 0.1–10% of the time.

Zone 0 area

Gas or vapor is present all of the time. An example of this would be the vapor space above the liquid in the top of a tank or drum. The ANSI/NEC classification method consider this environment a Division 1 area. As a guide for Zone 0, this can be defined as over 1000 hours/year or >10% of the time.