Dust Explosion Protection

There is a potential risk of explosion in industrial facilities wherever combustible dust is present, whether as a result of production or as a by-product.

Deposited combustible dust has a high potential for explosion. It can be deposited everywhere in the equipment room and, in the case of a primary explosion, it is dispersed and can lead to a chain reaction causing numerous successive explosions.

To prevent this danger to employees, the facility and the environment, it must be ensured that electrical equipment in these areas does not have any ignition sources. ATEX Directives 94/9/EC are applicable in this area as national regulations have been replaced by uniform EC rules.

This also includes a change to the definition for dust Ex zones instead of the previous zones 10 and 11, dust EX zones 20, 21 and 22 have been defined similarly to the gas Ex zones 0, 1 and 2.

Work areas are mostly classified as zone 21 or zone 22. Zone 20 is mostly limited to the interior of technical assemblies like silos or hoppers.