Professional Electrical Engineering Services
Hazcon Inc. is a registered engineering company in the province of Ontario, Canada that provides a full suite of services in the areas of equipment design, certification, and system integration for manufacturers of electrical equipment for hazardous locations and explosive atmospheres.
Evaluation Services for Intrinsically Safe and Non-incendive Electrical Systems
Intrinsically safe is a system concept and it is necessary to consider the safety of each component of the system in the loop. Installation of an intrinsically safe system to connect a safety barrier to a field device requires a precise assessment. The Code of Practice for such installations must be strictly adhered to in order to ensure that the installation is safe. Combinations of devices to a safety barrier may get more complex if there are two or more barriers feeding an IS device.
Our engineering services for your intrinsically safe installations in hazardous areas include:
- Providing fault assessments, spark assessments, thermal assessments and supporting calculations for field wiring installations
- Preparation of engineering documents:
- SEALED & STAMPED descriptive system documents required for the installation and verification of an intrinsically safe system
- control drawings and intrinsically safe block diagrams with details of electrical parameters governing interconnections of the associated apparatus and intrinsically safe devices
- Evaluation Services:
- entity parameters of intrinsic safety barriers and intrinsically safe field devices for a safe installation
- electrical parameters for interconnecting wiring
- grounding and bonding requirements of safety barriers and IS devices in hazardous areas
- Verification of:
- temperature class (T-code), gas or dust groups, the equipment protection level (EPL)
- conditions for safe use of certified devices
We provide engineering evaluations on intrinsically safe and non-incendive installations in hazardous areas (Division and Zone systems).
Engineering Evaluation and Assessment of Complex Equipment Assemblies in Hazardous Areas
Given advances in technology, electrical equipment is often combined into more complicated and complex assemblies of already certified items.
“Equipment assemblies” are defined in Clause 3.1 of IEC 60079-46 as a “pre-manufactured combination of Ex Equipment, together with other parts as necessary, that are electrically or mechanically interconnected that are pre-assembled prior to being placed into service at the end-user site, and that can be disassembled and then re-assembled at the end-user site”.
An example might be a skid of individually, already certified Ex-equipment and/or Ex-components connected with each other as a unit to meet the function of this assembly.
We provide engineering evaluations and assessments on equipment assemblies as follows:
- Performing an Ignition Hazard Assessment to identify all ignition hazards related to both non-electrical and electrical risks that might be caused by the makeup of the assembly
- Helping you find the correct Ex component/ equipment for your equipment assembly
- Verification of cables and wiring between the Ex-component/ equipment within the assembly to ensure they comply with installation Code (NEC, CE Code or CEC, IEC 60079-14)
- Verification of conditions related to safe use, including any Schedules of Limitations of Certificates to ensure they are addressed and satisfied
- Determination of an overall T rating (temperature class) for equipment assemblies based on the lowest temperature class of the components or equipment
- Determination of an overall Gas group (or dust group) for the entire assembly, based on the least dangerous gas group present
- Determination of the Equipment Protection Level (EPL) based on the strictest requirement of any of the components
- Preparation of an assessment report and checklist to demonstrate compliance of the equipment assembly with the relevant safety Standards
We will help you prepare for the certification of your equipment assembly. By working with you and sharing our considerable experience and expertise, we can help you achieve a successful outcome in the shortest and least expensive way possible.
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