Hazardous Areas
This content is a training module that looks at the Hazardous Area rating of an installation. A Hazardous Area is defined as a place where concentrations of flammable gases, vapours or dusts occur. This module intends to give the user a detailed overview of Hazardous Areas and the equipment types associated with the different hazardous area classifications.
The content details the different hazardous area classifications (including an overview of what classifies a hazardous area), looks at gas groups and classes, zoning of an installation for hazardous area rating, and the temperature rating / classification of equipment for use in hazardous areas. It also details the different protection methods available (Ex ratings) and the selection of equipment for hazardous areas utilising the different protection methods.
It looks at the concept of Intrinsically Safe (IS) protection in detail and defines what is an intrinsically safe installation, and how this protection method works to protect an installation. It looks at the various methods employed to achieve an IS installation (i.e. zener vs galvanic), and the cabling and wrong systems used for these installations and the impact this has on IS installations.
It then describes the inspection, testing and maintenance regimes required for hazardous area installations to ensure the protection method that has been selected has been installed correctly, and has been maintained correctly over time, as well as the approval process that has been set up from a regulatory perspective to ensure the devices selected all conform to a common standard from an international perspective.
This module is intended to be used by engineers and technicians that have little or no knowledge of hazardous area classifications and the protection methods utilised to counter the hazardous areas. The intent of the content in this module is to give the user an appreciation of the various methods that can be employed to protect their installation, as well as expanding their general knowledge of hazardous areas.
