Do the laboratory facilities in the oil and petrochemical industry need to be explosion-proof?
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Is an explosion-proof design necessary for the station laboratory? Although the samples of natural gas, LNG, LPG, stabilized light hydrocarbons, crude oil, etc., that were tested are all flammable and explosive substances, the small number of samples means there is still a significant difference compared to the storage areas for these products. The HSE department requires that the design be carried out in accordance with explosion-proof standards, but no design specifications can be found as a basis for this. Should it be designed for explosion protection after all? If designed for explosion protection, the plugs and sockets of all electrical instruments in the laboratory must be modified, which is a real hassle for laboratories that have a large number of various small instruments – the walls are covered with explosion-proof wiring conduits.
As long as a safe distance is maintained from the tank area, a full explosion-proof design is not necessary. However, some equipment requires an explosion-proof version.
Some of the equipment is of explosion-proof type; we encountered this issue before as well, and no relevant standards could be found at that time. . .
Check in which fire protection class the laboratory is located; if it is in a regular office area, the requirements are much simpler compared to those for production areas classified as fire protection class A or B.
Laboratories are generally independent buildings; is it appropriate for only the gas cylinder room and reagent storage to be designed in accordance with explosion-proof requirements?
I share this concern; the laboratory is required to meet explosion-proof standards during system audits, yet the analysis instruments themselves are not explosion-proof. How can this issue be resolved?
We have also encountered problems in this regard; we couldn’t find any specific guidelines. We have a sample storage area, a hazardous materials area, and an explosion-proof area for gas cylinders
To be honest, it’s difficult to do, but for inspections such as with lights, explosion-proof versions must be used
We need explosion protection for the gas cylinder room, and explosion protection for the wall of the inspection center that is adjacent to the equipment!
It is still necessary to replace the explosion-proof sockets and explosion-proof lights.