Description of BS EN 60079-13:2010 2011

This part of IEC 60079 gives requirements for the design, construction, assessment and testing and marking of rooms protected by pressurization in:

• a room located in an explosive gas atmosphere or explosive dust atmosphere hazardous area that does not include an internal source of a flammable substance;

• a room located in an explosive gas atmosphere or explosive dust atmosphere hazardous area that includes an internal source of a flammable substance;

• a room located in a non-hazardous area that includes an internal source of a flammable substance.

NOTE If ventilation is used and pressurization is not used, then this part of IEC 60079 does not apply. The situation is covered by the requirements of IEC 60079-10-1.

A room may be a single room, multiple rooms, a complete building or a room contained within a building and includes inlet and outlet ducts. This part of IEC 60079 also includes requirements for associated equipment, safety devices and controls necessary to ensure that pressurization is established and maintained.

This part of IEC 60079 covers rooms or buildings that are constructed or assembled on site, which may be either on land or off-shore, designed to facilitate the entry of personnel and primarily intended for installation by an end-user and verification on site. The room may be located in an explosive gas atmosphere or a explosive dust atmosphere requiring equipment protection levels (EPL) Gb, Db, Gc or Dc.

This part of IEC 60079 does not specify the methods that may be required to ensure adequate air quality for personnel with regard to toxicity and temperature within the room.

NOTE 1 Whilst the scope of this part of IEC 60079 does not address toxicity it is vital that proper consideration is given to this aspect to ensure the safety of personnel. National regulations and requirements should be observed in this regard.

NOTE 2 There is a related standard IEC60079-2 (Equipment protection by pressurized enclosure) covering the different conditions encountered when using the pressurization technique.

NOTE 3 Maintenance needs are contained in Annex B until they are included IEC 60079-17.

NOTE 4 For the purposes of this part of IEC 60079, the terms "lower flammable limit (LFL)" and "lower explosive limit (LEL)" are deemed to be synonymous, and likewise the terms "upper flammable limit (UFL)" and "upper explosive limit (UEL)" are deemed to be synonymous. For ease of reference, the two abbreviations LFL and UFL may be used hereinafter to denote these two sets of terms. It should be recognized that particular authorities having jurisdiction may have overriding requirements that dictate the use of one of these sets of terms and not the other.

This part of IEC 60079 supplements and modifies the general requirements of IEC 60079-0, except as indicated in Table 1. Where a requirement of this standard conflicts with a requirement of IEC 60079-0, the requirement of this standard takes precedence.

Table 1 – Exclusion of specific clauses of IEC 60079-0

Applies – This requirement of IEC 60079-0 is applied without change.

Excluded – This requirement of IEC 60079-0 does not apply.

NOTE The applicable requirements of IEC 60079-0 are identified by the clause title which is normative. This table was written against the specific requirements of IEC 60079-0, Ed 6.0. The clause numbers for the 6th and previous edition are shown for information only. This is to enable the General Requirements IEC 60079-0, Ed 5.0, to be used where necessary with this part of IEC 60079. Where there were no requirements for the 5th edition but there are for the 6th edition (indicated by NR against the 5th edition only), or where is a conflict between requirements, the 6th edition requirements should be considered.

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