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) |
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Non incendive | Not capable of causing ignition in normal operation |
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Luminaries, low power equipment, rotating machines, fuses |
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Restricted Breathing | Keep out hazardous material by means of adequate sealing (IP66) |
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Arcing sparking and hot surfaces, inverters, control & inst components, actuators, relays, PLC’s |
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Non Sparking | Not capable of causing ignition in normal operation |
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Fuses, Shunts, restistors, low power equipment, transformers, batteries |
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Energy Limited | Power insufficient to cause ignition |
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Lower power PCB, PLC’s |
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Enclosed break | No transmisson to surroundings. |
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Switch gear (closed), reduced spec Ex d, reduced encapsulation “m” for circuits |
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Non Incendive | As above. | |||||
Hermetically sealed | Primary sparking device is fusion sealed. | |||||
Simple encapsulation | Potting compound used. | |||||
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Pressurised | Keep out hazardous material by positive internal pressure and adequate sealing |
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Renders internal Ignition capable components (high grade industrial or Zone 2 ATEX EC type quality) suitable for non-hazardous area |
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Simple Pressurisation | As above |
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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.