IEC/EN 60079 Explosive Atmospheres Series
IEC 60079, published in Europe as the EN 60079 series, is the family of international standards covering electrical equipment for use in explosive atmospheres. It defines how equipment is constructed, protected and tested so that it cannot ignite flammable gas, vapour, mist or combustible dust, and it provides the technical basis for both ATEX certification in the European Union and IECEx certification internationally.
Key Takeaways
The 60079 series governs equipment intended for hazardous areas where flammable gas, vapour, mist or combustible dust may be present.
EN 60079 is the European adoption of the IEC 60079 standards and forms the technical basis for ATEX and IECEx certification.
Individual parts cover specific protection concepts, for example 60079-0 for general requirements and 60079-11 for intrinsic safety.
Compliance is shown by Ex markings that describe the equipment group, protection type, gas or dust subdivision, temperature class and equipment protection level.
The series is split into parts, each addressing a protection concept or test method. Part 0 sets the general requirements for all equipment, while later parts define specific methods such as flameproof enclosure d in part 1, increased safety e in part 7, intrinsic safety i in part 11, encapsulation m in part 18, equipment with a very high level of protection in part 26 and protection by enclosure for combustible dust in part 31.
ATEX is the European legal framework set by Directive 2014/34/EU, and the EN 60079 standards are the harmonised standards used to demonstrate conformity with it. IECEx is the equivalent international certification scheme operated by the IEC, which uses the same IEC 60079 standards to allow recognition of certificates across participating countries.
Certified equipment carries an Ex marking that encodes how it may be used. A marking such as Ex db IIC T4 Gb states the protection type, the gas subdivision, the maximum surface temperature class and the equipment protection level, allowing an engineer to confirm that the device suits the hazardous zone in question.
Rugged tablets, phones and computers deployed in oil and gas, petrochemical, mining and similar sectors must carry certification based on the 60079 series before they can be used in classified hazardous areas. This is why intrinsically safe rugged devices state the specific 60079 parts to which they have been assessed.
Frequently Asked Questions
They are the same technical standards. IEC 60079 is the international version published by the International Electrotechnical Commission, while EN 60079 is the European adoption used as harmonised standards under the ATEX framework.
No. ATEX is the European legal framework, Directive 2014/34/EU, for equipment in explosive atmospheres. EN 60079 provides the technical standards used to demonstrate compliance with that framework.
Part 11 specifies intrinsic safety, a protection concept that limits the electrical and thermal energy available in a circuit so that it cannot ignite an explosive atmosphere.
Electrical equipment used in classified hazardous areas, including rugged tablets, phones and computers deployed in oil and gas, petrochemical, mining and comparable environments.
From Theory to Application
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