ATEX Zone 2, 22

Zone 2, 22 means that there is no hazardous material present, but if there is, it is for less than 10 hours a year and in low concentration.

The hazardous area industry has been stuck in the past for decades by large manufacturing companies that wish their customers to believe there is no alternative to their long lead, heavy, very expensive and cumbersome Ex d flameproof enclosures for zone 2.

What they don’t tell you is that under the ATEX directive 60079-15, steel panel enclosure manufacturers such as indEx, can self-certify for zone 2, 22, and category 3 solutions.

Type “n” solutions were developed to allow quality industrial components for use in zone 2. That is where a hazardous area material is only present for short periods of time- typically because of a fault somewhere else in the plant area. This means that there is a wealth of solutions available to indEx customers for zone 2, 22 which are not only cost effective, time sensitive and weigh much less than conventional Ex d flameproof enclosures, they also look much better as well!

Zone		Definition
Gas	Dust
0	20	>1000 hours per year
1	21	Between 10 & 1000 hours per year
2	22	<10 hours per year

ATEX Zone 2, 22 Protection Types

Ex Marking Code	Protection principle	Definintion	Application	ATEX/CENELEC /IEC	Possible use	Equipment protection level (EPL)
Ex n/ N	Non incendive	Not capable of causing ignition in normal operation	Zone 2, 22 or non hazardous area	Category 3 GD 60079-15 EN 50021	Luminaries, low power equipment, rotating machines, fuses	Gc
Ex nR	Restricted Breathing	Keep out hazardous material by means of adequate sealing (IP66)	Zone 2, 22 or non hazardous area	Category 3 GD 60079-15 EN 50021	Arcing sparking and hot surfaces, inverters, control & inst components, actuators, relays, PLC’s	Gc
Ex nA	Non Sparking	Not capable of causing ignition in normal operation	Zone 2, 22 or non hazardous area	Category 3 GD 60079-15 EN 50021	Fuses, Shunts, restistors, low power equipment, transformers, batteries	Gc
Ex nL	Energy Limited	Power insufficient to cause ignition	Zone 2, 22 or non hazardous area	Category 3 GD 60079-15 EN 50021	Lower power PCB, PLC’s	Gc
Ex nC	Enclosed break	No transmisson to surroundings.	Zone 2, 22 or non hazardous area	Category 3 GD 60079-15 EN 50021	Switch gear (closed), reduced spec Ex d, reduced encapsulation “m” for circuits	Gc
	Non Incendive	As above.
	Hermetically sealed	Primary sparking device is fusion sealed.
	Simple encapsulation	Potting compound used.
Ex pZ	Pressurised	Keep out hazardous material by positive internal pressure and adequate sealing	Zone 2, 22	IEC 60079-15	Renders internal Ignition capable components (high grade industrial or Zone 2 ATEX EC type quality) suitable for non-hazardous area	Gc
Ex nZ	Simple Pressurisation	As above	Zone 2, 22	IEC 60079-15		Gc

Ex nR- Restricted breathing

Control panel solutions
Arcing and sparking contactors
Inverters
PLC’s
Relays
HMI Screens
Industrial components

…and many more.

Ex nA- Non Sparking

Transformers
Batteries
Resistors
Shunts
Low power units
Digital displays

Ex pz, Pressurisation & Ex nZ, Simple Pressurisation

Allows industrial components to be used in a zone 2 area
Much larger cabinets possible
Alarm & repressurisation solutions available
Talk to indEx sales for px and py pressure systems solutions as well

Zone 22- Dust protection

Allows industrial components to be used in a zone 20, 21 & 22 area
Control panel solutions
IP66 allows jet sprays for fast cleaning
Electro polish finish for pharmaceutical, milling, etc industries
Sloping canopies, shades etc allowing dust “run off”

Self Certification

As the manufacturer we are more than happy to work in partnership with you. We can send a blank mounting plate with entries to suit within a few days. This will allow you to build up your component/ mounting board much faster.

indEx then send the enclosure (framework also available) for you to integrate.

We then test and certify!

Yes it is that easy…

We just need to know a few things first:-

Internal component sizes
Mounting plate size
Power dissipation of each component
Enclosure footprint size required (depth or overall size may need to change to avoid any heat build up)
Entry details

Let us know the footprint size you need, and we will optimise the best solution for your project.

Talk to our sales team for more details on the zone 2 protection concepts and start saving time money and effort now!

We can also arrange for one of our sales engineers to visit you to discuss your exact requirements. Details in contact us.

N.B. indEx can provide a design and build service for enclosures. They can then be tested by third party EN test houses such as SIRA for solutions such as high voltage, field bus systems, control panels at additional cost.