Tag: Classified Areas

UL Certifications Explained

Published on by johnball2014Leave a comment
If a product or device carries one of these markings, it’s been evaluated for safety by top professionals in the field.

You probably walked by many items in a department store that had a UL mark, and not even noticed.   What does this mark mean?  The Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is a third-party organization that verifies that products are safe for use.  They have been around for more than 100 years, and they are very important for checking the design of electrical systems.  In order to receive the UL stamp, it has to pass stringent tests for conformance and safety, and they register the items on a database for users to review.  EXAIR uses this service for our products.  EXAIR stands behind our products with the Underwriters Laboratories recognition.  I will go over the products that EXAIR manufacturers and the type of UL marks that we have. 

There are three main types of UL marks; UL Listed, UL Recognized, and UL Listed Classified. 

UL Listed:  All EXAIR Cabinet Coolers are UL Listed!  It is important to note that EXAIR was the first to ensure that your electrical panel’s NEMA rating remained when using our Cabinet Cooler Systems.  Our products underwent numerous tests and scenarios to verify that an operator will be safe during normal operations.   The tests for the Cabinet Cooler Systems included environmental exposure for the given NEMA type along with many other tests.  When you place a Cabinet Cooler onto your electrical panel, the degree of protection is not affected.  Our Cabinet Cooler Systems come in NEMA 12, NEMA 4, and NEMA 4X.  They are designed to keep the electrical components inside cool; stopping unnecessary shutdowns from excessive heat.  With the UL listed mark, the Underwriters Laboratories have deemed these products safe for operation throughout the US and Canada per their standards.  

UL Recognized:  The Gen4 Static Eliminators and Power Supplies are UL Recognized.  UL Recognition is most often seen with components, in a form of power supplies or circuit boards, that are used to power other parts. UL Recognition ensures the safety and efficiency of machinery used by operators. In other words, it certifies that a component within a larger instrument meets UL standards.  The Gen4 Power Supplies are used to generate ions with our Gen4 Static Eliminators.  These ions will remove any type of static that can cause jams, misalignment, and harmful shocks.  We offer two types of Power Supplies, a two port and a 4 port, to operate eight different styles of Static Eliminators.  And together, you can make sure that your operators are safe when using our products to remove static nuisances.    

UL Listed Classified: The UL Classified certification means that the product has been evaluated, tested and passed the test for being safe when installed within classified areas. This includes a large range of hazardous locations which according to OSHA is defined as an explosive atmosphere due to the presence of flammable gases (Class I), combustible dusts (Class II), or ignitable fibers and flyings (Class III).  Unlike the Cabinet Coolers above, the HazLoc Cabinet Cooler went through a more stringent test to operate in all classified areas.  Used with a purge system, the HazLoc Cabinet Cooler keep the electronics from faulting due to over-temp. 

Here are our registration number with UL for you to review:

Cabinet Cooler Systems:                                        E182292

Static Neutralizing Equipment:                             E138256

Hazardous Locations Cabinet Cooler Systems:     E498880

It is widely known that machines are the lifeblood of any business. Taking steps to protect your investment and your operators that use the equipment is essential for long-term success of a company.  The UL certification will give you that peace of mind.  Lastly, since UL is a third-party service, you can be confident that the UL label is a true sign of safety and longevity within electrical systems.  If you would like to discuss more about our UL listed products for removing static or cooling electronics, an Application Engineer at EXAIR will be happy to help you. 

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb

Class III Hazardous Locations Defined

Published on by Tyler DanielLeave a comment

The National Electrical Code (NEC) has a system for classifying areas deemed hazardous due to flammable or combustible materials. When an area is considered classified, extreme caution needs to be taken to ensure nothing within that area provides a possible ignition source. In the US, Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) provides third-party certification for products that can safely be used in these areas. EXAIR’s newest addition to the longstanding line of Cabinet Coolers was our Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler. Designed and built with these types of applications in mind, the Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler has been independently certified by UL for use in Hazardous Locations in Class I Div 1, Groups A, B, C, and D; for use in Class II Div 1, Groups E, F, and G; and also in Class III areas.

Class III areas can often be overlooked as the materials that generally create a Class III area may not always be considered “explosive” by nature. In Class III areas, the risk of combustion occurs due to the presence of ignitable fibers or materials that produce or process combustible flyings. According to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), combustible flyings are defined as solid particles, including fibers, where one dimension is greater than 500µ in size, which can form an explosive mixture with air at standard atmospheric pressure and temperature. These areas are most commonly found within the textile and woodworking industries. The video below, posted to YouTube by News Center Maine, shows just how violent an explosion due to wood fibers can be:

When using a Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler in a Class III area, it’s important to keep the Cabinet Cooler and immediately surrounding area free of settling debris. Implement a regular inspection, and cleaning procedure if necessary, to ensure that the flyings/textiles don’t accumulate on the Cabinet Cooler.

If you have control panels installed in a hazardous location and are sick of the nonstop maintenance associated with an A/C type system, the Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler is the right tool for you. Contact an Application Engineer today for help determining the most suitable model for your enclosures.

Tyler Daniel
Application Engineer
E-mail: TylerDaniel@EXAIR.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_TD

UL Classified Certification for HazLoc Cabinet Coolers

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Although history only records back so far, I am certain (based on my experiences with sharp and heavy objects) that humans have been injuring themselves with tools, and the stuff they make with them, since the beginning of time.  In fact, recorded history DOES bear this out…the famous Code of Hammurabi (circa 1750 B.C.) set specific amounts of compensation for specific injuries, as did laws from all over the ancient world, from the empires of Rome to China.  Since then, we’ve come a long way in regulating safety not only for the worker in the workplace, but in public places, homes, and workplaces where manufactured products are used.

UL LLC (or Underwriters Laboratories, as they were known throughout the 20th Century) is a safety consulting & certification company founded in 1894 by an electrical engineer named William Henry Merrill.  A year earlier, an insurance company hired Merrill to perform a risk assessment and investigation of new potential clients…George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla, the proprietors of the Palace of Electricity at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.  It was this experience that made him realize the potential for such an agency to test and set standards for product safety at the dawn of a new age of technology development.  And 120 years on, the benefits in safety & protection have been proven many times over.

If a product or device carries one of these markings, it’s been evaluated for safety by top professionals in the field.

One of the more critical accreditations that a manufacturer can receive for a product is the UL Classified Mark.  This differs from other markings (like the ones shown above for Certified, Listed, or Recognized) in that Classification means that samples of the product were tested & evaluated with respect to certain properties of the product.

EXAIR’s new Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler Systems bear the UL Classified Mark.  This means they meet the stringent UL requirements for installation on purged electrical enclosures in specific classified areas:

  • Class I Div 1, Groups A, B, C and D
  • Class II Div 1, Groups E, F and G
  • Class III

EXAIR Hazardous Location Cabinet Cooler Systems maintain NEMA 4/4X Integrity and are CE Compliant.

When choosing products for use in classified areas, it’s critical to ensure safety through compliance, and the HazLoc Cabinet Cooler Systems allow you to do that, with simplicity and reliability.  If you’d like to discuss an enclosure cooling application, in or out of a classified area, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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Explanation of Hazardous Locations – Class II Div. 1, Groups E, F and G

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Per the National Electrical Code (NEC) there are (3) classifications for areas that are defined as hazardous.  They are Class I (gases & vapors), Class II (flammable dusts) & Class III (fibers), the focus of today’s Blog is on Class II locations.

Class II locations are those that are hazardous because of the presence of combustible dust. Note that the dust must be present in sufficient quantities for a fire or explosion hazard to exist. The fact that there is some combustible dust present does not mean a Class II hazardous location exists. Dust is defined as a combustible material that must exist as a finely divided solid of 420 microns (0.420 mm) or less. This will allow the dust to pass through a No. 40 sieve.  Just as in Class I, Division 1 and 2, the subdivision of Class II into Divisions 1 and 2 identifies the likelihood that there is an explosion hazard.

Division 1 locations are defined as an area where the amount of combustible dust is either suspended in the air or accumulated on surfaces in a sufficient concentration to allow for ignition.  The ignition could be caused by a failure or malfunction of the equipment in the classified area.  Group E & F dust (see chart below) are considered conductive and could penetrate into electrical equipment such as electric motors, control panels, electrical panels, etc.. and cause an electrical failure.

Chart1

Group E dusts are metal dusts, such as aluminum and magnesium. In addition to being highly abrasive, and likely to cause overheating of motor bearings if it gets into them. Group E dusts are also electrically conductive and if they are allowed to enter an enclosure can cause an electrical failure.

Chart2

Group F dusts are carbonaceous, the primary dust in this group is coal dust. Coal dust has a lower ignition temperatures than those in Group E.  While Group F dust has a higher thermal insulating value than the layer of Group E.  Therefore Group F requires more control of the temperature on the surfaces that the dust settles on. Group E dusts are semi-conductive, however if the voltages are 600 volts or less it is not generally considered a factor.

Chart3

Group G dusts include plastic dusts, most chemical dusts and food-grain dusts. They are not electrically conductive. Generally these dusts have the highest thermal insulating characteristics and the lowest ignition temperatures. Therefore the equipment used in Group G areas must have the lowest surface temperatures to prevent ignition of a layer.

Chart4

Lastly, equipment rated for use in Classified Environments have a rating called the Temperature Code or “T-Code”.  This is the temperature or temperature range that the rated device will operate normally and/or in a failed or failing state.  Consider something as common as a light fixture, electric motors, etc.. as they could become hot enough to cause ignition depending on the type of dust in the area.  So be sure to check the “T-Codes” for every piece of equipment that will be used within a Classified Environments.

Chart5

When you are looking for expert advice on Hazardous Location Cabinet Coolers or safe, quiet and efficient point of use compressed air products give us a call.   We would enjoy hearing from you.

Steve Harrison
Application Engineer
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