Chapter 11
Installation, inspection and repair
Published
- Ex installation basics under IEC 60079-14
IEC 60079-14 sets the rules for designing, selecting, installing and initially inspecting electrical installations in explosive atmospheres. Scope, documentation, selection, wiring, cable entries, earthing, intrinsic safety and the verification dossier.
- Cable glands for hazardous areas: barrier glands, compound glands and selection
How to select Ex cable glands: increased safety, flameproof elastomeric seal and barrier (compound) glands, when IEC 60079-14 requires a barrier gland, IP and ingress, metric and NPT threads, adapters, blanking elements and common mistakes.
- Inspection of Ex installations under IEC 60079-17: initial, periodic, visual, close and detailed
IEC 60079-17 sets how electrical installations in hazardous areas are inspected in service: visual, close and detailed grades, initial, periodic and sample inspections, continuous supervision, the 3-year interval limit, checklists, records and inspector competence.
- Common Ex inspection findings and how to fix them
The defects Ex inspectors find most often, why each one matters and how to fix it properly: missing or wrong bolts, wrong or loose cable glands, open or plugged unused entries, damaged flamepaths, paint, corrosion, ingress and unsuitable equipment.
- Repair, overhaul and modification of Ex equipment (IEC 60079-19)
How Ex equipment is repaired, overhauled and reclaimed under IEC 60079-19 without losing its protection: repair vs modification, repair facilities and the responsible person, R marking of repaired equipment and flameproof flamepath repair limits.
- Earthing, bonding and equipotential bonding in hazardous areas
Protective earthing, equipotential bonding, intrinsic safety earth, static bonding, lightning protection and cathodic protection in hazardous areas: what each does, the usual criteria (6 mm², 1 Ω, 10 Ω, 1 MΩ) and where they conflict.
- Portable electronics in hazardous areas: phones, tablets, cameras and tools
When phones, tablets, cameras, radios and battery tools may enter a hazardous area: Ex certified devices and their markings, permits for non-Ex devices, battery rules, wireless and RF ignition thresholds, and the guidance of IEC 60079-14 and IEC TS 60079-48.
- Hot work permits in hazardous areas
How hot work permits control welding, cutting and grinding in hazardous areas: permit-to-work roles, isolation and preparation, gas testing before and during the work, fire watch, pressurised habitats and the lessons of fatal hot work explosions.