IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY AND GENERAL APPLICATIONS, VOL. IGA-6, NO. 4, JULY/AUGUST 1970

Comparison of World Standards for ElectricalEnclosures for Hazardous Areas: Part I

JAY A. STEWART, MEMBER, IEEE

Abstract-An interim report of Working Group IV of the Petro-leum and Chemical Industry Committee (PCIC) is presented. Areview of the group's assignment, the basic plan for achieving itsgoals, and comments from a survey which sought to find generalproblems related to enclosures for hazardous areas is included.

nzE have need to review the present requirements forW electrical and instrument enclosures available for

installation in hazardous areas. There have been enclosuressupplied which are not designed with accepted safetyfactors and are of questionable strength. Furthermore, our

present standards and practices do not recognize severalbasic concepts which have been very successfully applied

Paper 70 TOD 12a-IGA, approved by the Petroleum and Chem-ical Industrv Committee of the IEEE IGA Group for presentation atthe 1969 IEEE Petroleum and Chemical Industry Technical Con-ference, Los Angeles, Calif., September 15-17. Manuscript receivedMIarch 9, 1970.The author is with the MI. W. Kellogg Company, New York, N. Y.

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elsewhere in the world. The basic interest of WorkingGroup IV (Appendix) is to establish what problemsexist, and what basic changes should be incorporated in ourcodes and standards relative to enclosures. After review bythe Petroleum and Chemical Industry Committee (PCIC)the proposal will be referred to a special Working Group forformal presentation to the standard or code making panel.The charge to Working Group IV made by the Execu-

tive Subcommittee of the PCIC is that it should concernitself with "the requirements for enclosures in classifiedareas." The object is to

1) compare United States' national and internationalstandards and codes,

2) obtain test results on enclosures made by manu-facturers and other national bodies,

3) prepare a paper on the facts obtained,4) determine what action should be taken with respect to

enclosures in classified areas.The group was formed and began work in October,

1966. Our first effort was in the form of a questionnaire to

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY AND GENERAL APPLICATIONS, JULY/AUGUST 1970

the members of Working Group IV. We were seekingknowledge of problems related to enclosures, unique solu-tions to problems, testing agency experience, and suggestedstandards. Some of the more than 50 general problems andsolutions noted were as follows:

1) limited availability of enclosures for Groups A,B, andC,

2) temperature limitation on lighting fixtures for Divi-sion 2 areas,

3) inconsistency in international standards,4) corrosion,5) difficulty of installing field made seals properly,6) limited availability of factory-sealed devices,7) lack of enclosures that will exclude dust storms,8) use of armored cable to avoid conduit and sealing

problems,9) use of nonmetallic housing for areas comparable to

Division 2,10) use of design enclosures with very small volume to

minimize explosion pressures and consequently reduce sizeand cost.The comments received have helped to direct our work

to problems related to enclosures. These comments havealready influenced manufacturers to make factory-sealeddevices more available.The second phase of our work is to compare United

States' standards with those of other countries. This wasdeveloped by Short [1]. This work compares standardsrelative to gases and vapors.

Similar work will be done to compare standards forflammable dusts and flyings. The requirements for corrosionand environmental conditions will also be reviewed.Standards for enclosures for these conditions are not asextensive nor as complete as those for gases and vapors.We expect to find the need for more work and probablynew standards for enclosures that are suitable forflammable dusts, flyings, and environmental and corrosiveconditions.

APPENDIXPRESENT MEMBERSHIP OF WORKING GROuP IVName Affiliation Location

J. A. Stewart, M. W. Kellogg Co. New York, N. Y.Chairman

H. R. Greer, Secretary Greer Associates Hackensack, N. J.J. D. Campbell Brown and Root, Inc. Houston, Tex.J. M. Crocker Pyle-National Co.J. B. Crosby Crouse-Hinds Co. Syracuse, N. Y.R. H. Cunningham, Jr. Sinclair Oil Corp. Houston, Tex.M. H. Duncan Tennessee Gas Houston, Tex.

Pipeline Co.B. E. Ewers Phillips Petroleum Co. Bartlesville, Okla.R. J. Fraser El Paso Natural Gas El Paso, Tex.

Co.J. C. Gholson Gulf Oil Corp. Port Arthur, Tex.G. B. Jamison Crouse-Hinds Co. Houston, Tex.G. T. Johnson Bechtel Corp. San Francisco,

Calif.J. C. La Cour Ethel Corp. Baton Rouge, La.J. C. H. Larson Adalet Manufacturing Cleveland, Ohio

Co.R. Loewe Sargent and Lundy Chicago, Ill.T. L. McDonald Reliance Electric and Cleveland, Ohio

EngineeringC. C. Montgomery Killark Electric Mfg. Dallas, Tex.

Co.H. A. Norberg Nelson Electric Tulsa, Okla.

Division of SolaBasic Industries

J. C. Norton Union Carbide Corp. S. Charleston,W. Va.

M. R. Ogden Appleton Electric Co. Dallas, Tex.0. J. Paul Ralph M. Parsons Co. Los Angeles, Calif.R. A. Reynolds Crouse-Hinds Co. Pittsburgh, Pa.H. Sibley DuPont Co. Orange, Tex.W. A. Short Crouse-Hinds Co. Syracuse, N. Y.A. M. Shuttlesworth Howe-Baker Tyler, Tex.

EngineeringR. J. Smith Nelson Electric Supply Tulsa, Okla.L. C. Tuggle Shell Oil Houston, Tex.D. W. Turner Petrolite Corp., Houston, Tex.

Petreco Div.A. F. Vieweg Fluor Corp. Los Angeles, Calif.W. C. Westerberg Underwriters' Chicago, Ill.

LaboratoryJ. F. Wilkins BIPM The Hague, The

NetherlandsP. T. Yesso Freeport Sulphur New Orleans, La.

REFERENCES

[1] W. A. Short, "Comparison of world standards for electricalenclosures for hazardous areas: part II", this issue, pp. 315-325.

Jay A. Stewart (M'56) was born in New Milford, Conn., on May 26, 1927. He received theB.E.E. degree from Clarkson College of Technology, Potsdam, N. Y., in 1950.

Since 1953 he has been with the M. W. Kellogg Company, New York, N. Y., where he isnow Electrical Section Engineer.Mr. Stewart is a Registered Professional Engineer in the States of Louisiana and New

York.

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