Current Practices For Use Of Barrier Glands In Hazardous Areas Training

What is a Hazardous Area?

A hazardous area is a place that is regularly exposed to flammable gases, vapours, mists, and combustible dust and is considered potentially explosive by electrical engineers.

Hazardous areas regularly produce potentially explosive environments, such as chemical and petrochemical plants, mining, oil and gas, food processing and grain handling. When these flammable substances come into contact with oxygen in the air, they can produce an explosive atmosphere. If this atmosphere is set ablaze, the explosion might seriously harm people, industry, and the environment.

All electrical equipment installed in such environments is specially designed and tested to meet a range of requirements that together ensure the safety of personnel and prevent potentially dangerous situations resulting from the equipment’s reaction to its surroundings. These explosive atmospheres are either present or likely to be present.

Where are Hazardous Areas found?

Oil refineries, chemical factories, LNG plants, paint manufacturers, sewage treatment facilities, and offshore drilling rigs are just a few examples of places where hazardous regions are frequently found. Each of these settings could contain dangerous gas vapours.

Even so, many businesses are unaware that dust can also produce hazardous areas, so it is important to classify any potentially hazardous areas correctly and ensure that personnel are properly trained. Examples of these businesses include food and beverage producers, plastics factories, flour mills, recycling operations, and facilities that handle and store grains.

Current Practices of how Barrier Glands are used in Hazardous Areas

When the cable is not circular, compact, or filled with a non-hygroscopic material, there is a chance that an explosion (caused by a combination of pressure and temperature) could occur in a connected device in a hazardous area (HA), and the barrier gland is utilised. According to the general consensus among HA practitioners, regardless of the application, cables connecting HA and non-HA are furnished with a barrier gland if they are not round, compact, or filled with a non-hygroscopic material.

For the most part, cables do not require barrier glands unless they are expected to come into contact with a process fluid, such as a natural gas-actuated electro-pneumatic transducer. Therefore, it is not necessary to use barrier glands in most HA applications, such as motors, distribution boards, etc., because there is little chance that gas or vapour will move from HA to non-HA. This, however, is not standard industrial practice today.

Because most cable producers do not confirm that the cable is circular, compact, and non-hygroscopic, a conservative generic approach to using barrier glands has found its way into HA cable terminations. Without considering the specific situations, most running organisations have devised processes for using barrier glands.

Few manufacturers of LV 250V, 0.6/1kV, and HV cables can attest that the cable is circular, the fillers are compact, and the pressure is measured. Prysmian Cables is the sole Australian cable manufacturer to make that assertion. DSME did not employ barrier glands in the South Korean manufacturing of Whetstone Upstream Project modules because it was determined that IS cables were circular, compact, non-hygroscopic filler.

What is Hazardous Areas Training needed?

During the training for hazardous regions, the course goes into great depth about the choice of cable glands, including best practices. People who want to work in dangerous environments must always have the necessary skills and training. Anyone participating in the design, installation, or maintenance phases must be able to show proficiency to guarantee the highest level of safety precautions.

The competency requirements of AS/NZS 60079.14 are referenced in AS/NZS 3000 Clause 7.7.2.4.2. According to Clause 4.5, only those whose training has included instruction on the various forms of protection and installation procedures, applicable rules and regulations, and general concepts of area categorisation are permitted to design the installation, choose the equipment, and install it. The person’s skill level must match the nature of the work.

As stated in AS/NZS 60079.14, the clause states that workers shall regularly engage in appropriate continuing education or training. The EEHA Installation and Maintenance Competencies should be updated every three years. Our hazardous area courses include:

• UEE42620 Certificate IV in Hazardous Areas (full qualification)

Hazardous Areas Electrical qualification includes competencies for selecting, installing, testing, maintaining, and inspecting electrical equipment in hazardous locations (EEHA) in gas and dust environments.

• Hazardous Areas Installation + Maintenance + Inspection Competency (Refresher)

This certification offers the skills necessary to choose, install, test, keep up with, and inspect electrical equipment in hazardous areas (EEHA) in an environment with gas and dust.

• Hazardous Areas Classification and Design

This certification offers the skills necessary to classify hazardous locations, plan and design electrical equipment installations in hazardous areas (EEHA), and adhere to AS/NZS standards 4761 and 60079.10.0 and 1.

• Hazardous Areas Compliance Verification Dossier

This certification offers the skills necessary to create and maintain a hazardous areas verification dossier (HAVD) in accordance with AS/NZS requirements.

There are diploma and advanced diploma programmes for those who want to specialise in hazardous areas and become technical authorities and team leaders. Here are the certifications:

UEE50411 Diploma of Electrical Engineering

UEE61211 Advanced Diploma of Engineering — Explosion Protection

For more information, please get in touch with us!