Resource guide: Sure-fire intrinsic safety

Nov. 3, 2017
This month's slate of articles, papers, videos and other resources come from ICEweb, Predig, IDC Technologies, Omega Engineering, Phoenix Contact, and others.

Barriers and isolators 

The legendary ICEweb site's sub-section on "Intrinsic Safety, Barriers and Isolators" consists of a collection of links to other articles and resources. Topics include fundamentals, safe design and applications, IS fieldbuses, terminology and other. It also covers hardware, such as cables and junction boxes. Read it here.

ICEweb  / www.iceweb.com.au

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Classifications webinar 

This 60-minute webinar, "The fundamentals of hazardous area classifications," covers a lot of the history and context related to hazardous areas. Its presenters report, "From oil and gas processing to chemical manufacturing, hazardous areas are common throughout the process industries. These areas require a complex scheme of agency approvals that can be confusing and difficult to follow. This webinar is designed as a basic overview of the what, why and how of hazardous area classifications." Watch the webinar.

Predig / www.predig.com

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Hazardous areas video 

This 14-minuted video, "IS and hazardous areas," is presented by Steve Mackay, who reports it's a practical, intensive workshop that explains the application concepts of explosion protection using IS or Ex 'I'. It begins with definitions, basic concepts, chemical and gas characteristics, IS categories, etc. Watch the video. 

IDC Technologies / www.idc-online.com

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IS circuit design

The introduction to this classic, 19-page paper, "Intrinsic Safety Circuit Design," says that making instruments intrinsically safe doesn't have to be a nightmare. It covers limiting energy to field devices, determining safe energy levels, the 80/20 rule, making digital inputs and outputs safe, and installation. Read the paper.

Omega Engineering  / www.omega.com

Principles explained 

This concise, five-minute video, "Principle of Intrinsic Safety—Explanation of Intrinsic Safety Technology," covers dangerous gas mixtures, ignition curves, and how to limit them with Zener diodes and limiting circuits. Watch the video.

Phoenix Contact / www.phoenixcontact.com

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Safety barrier website

This brief sub-website, "Intrinsic Safety and Safety Barriers," includes a good summary of equipment that requires safety barriers, IS and Zener safety barriers, and flowcharts for each type of solution. Visit the site.

Instrumentation Toolbox / www.instrumentationtoolbox.com

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EX D, EX E and configuration 

These two 6-7-minute videos, "Simply explained: Ex d and Ex e—two explosion protection types cleverly combined" and "Simply explained: What is Ex e and what are the configuration options?" are presented by Thomas Kasten, product marketing manager for systems and solutions at Pepperl+Fuchs, and explain the features of the explosion protection type flameproof Ex d, as well the features of the explosion protection type Ex e. Watch the videos.

Pepperl+Fuchs  / www.pepperl-fuchs.us

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Clearing up safety myths

This 45-minute video, "Five myths of electrical design in hazardous locations," is delivered by experts from Hoffman and Grabar, covers explosion-proof to IS designs, and dispels some common misconceptions about electrical designs in hazardous areas to help users choose the best solutions to reduce cost and complexity, and improve speed of deployment. Watch the video.

Graybar / www.graybar.com

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ebook avoids explosions

The 25-page ebook, "Explosion Protection and Intrinsic Safety 101," concentrates on the physical principles and fundamentals of hazardous locations and covers the basics of intrinsic safety. While hazardous location markings may seem complex, the ebook takes readers through the basics, explaining the essentials of what they need to know. Its main sections include hazardous location definitions, intrinsic safety, the ignition triangle, categorization of hazardous areas, divisions versus zones, and explosion protection methods. Read the ebook.

Pepperl+Fuchs  / www.pepperl-fuchs.us