Particular aspects of the tests for ignition of small components

Abstract

The use of flammable substances in the industry means that the installations that process them generate explosion hazard zones in the proximal space. Equipment installed and operated in such hazardous areas must not ignite an explosive atmosphere. Confirmation of how equipment is adapted for use in an explosive atmosphere is named explosion protection. Explosion protection is confirmed by testing together with evaluation. For low-current equipment, the situation in which the hazardous atmosphere can be ignited by small components should be considered. The first part of the paper was devoted to the presentation of the explosion hazard and a brief presentation of the classification of equipment intended for use in explosive atmospheres. In the second part, the test methodology for ignition from small components is presented and in the last part, the results of ignition tests from small components are presented. The resulting main conclusion underlines the importance of test conditions.