ATEX – The reason why a manufacturer’s certificate is no longer sufficient
Safety certificates are a thing of the past – but safety remains essential
Until the publication of the new ATEX Product Directive 2014/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 26, 2014, the topic of potentially explosive atmospheres was often interpreted and handled individually. Manufacturers supplied a simple safety certificate for their products, either issued by themselves or via a third party.
What was certified? That after carrying out an ignition risk assessment in accordance with DIN EN 13463-1, it has been demonstrated that the device does not have its own potential ignition source and therefore does not meet the definition of equipment in accordance with Directive 94/9/EC. The product has been classified as “harmless” with this declaration.
February 26, 2014 heralded a fundamental change to this procedure. The old Directive 94/9/EC was replaced by the EU Directive 2014/34/EU and the standard DIN EN 13463-1 was replaced by the harmonized standard DIN EN ISO 80079-36. These relate to all equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres and define the essential health and safety requirements and conformity assessment procedures that apply to the placing on the market of these products in the EU. The EU member states had to transpose the new directive into national law by April 20, 2016. In Germany, this was done via the Explosion Protection Products Ordinance.
Accordingly, manufacturers have been under obligation since April 2016 to manufacture and deliver their products in accordance with the new Directive 2014/34/EU.
During the grace period from 2014 to 2016 alone, products were still allowed to be placed on the market with safety certificates in accordance with the old ATEX Directive 94/9/EC.
Gases and dusts are sources of danger
An explosive atmosphere is defined as a mixture of air and flammable gases, vapors, mists or dusts. In such applications, even a small spark or a hot surface can lead to a devastating explosion.
Explosive atmospheres can be found in almost every plant. For example, flammable landfill gases can arise in landfills, foul gases in sewage treatment plants and explosive dust/air mixtures are also present in many other plants, e.g. in the wood processing industry, in metal processing plants or in the food and animal feed industry. In addition, the effect of ignition sources is often underestimated or not recognized.
Therefore, plant operators may only install components that have an ignition risk assessment deposited with or tested by the TÜV and are certified or approved in accordance with the new Directive 2014/34/EU. This naturally also includes valves intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres.
Ignition risk assessment of fundamental importance
In accordance with the new ATEX product directive, every device is subjected to a precise ignition hazard assessment. This determines potential ignition sources over the entire product life cycle, analyzes their effectiveness depending on the probability and possible protective measures to avoid them. Unless otherwise specified in the explosion protection document, the suitability of the device is assigned to a zone from one of three equipment categories, which are classified according to the expected occurrence of faults (rare, frequent/continuously, foreseeable).
The risk analysis takes into account that there may be more sources of ignition than those apparently present, for example hot surfaces, flames or hot gases, mechanical sparks from breakage, impact or friction or electrical sparks/static electricity, lightning etc.
Taking responsibility seriously
The EU Declaration of Conformity proves that the manufacturer's devices have been designed, manufactured, tested and documented in accordance with strict criteria. It contains various product details, including the product name, type, lot, batch or serial number, the applied harmonized standards and technical specifications. Testing is carried out by a notified body, e.g. in Germany by TÜV Nord, Bureau Veritas or DEKRA EXAM GmbH and many more.
The issue of the EU Declaration of Conformity is the sole responsibility of the manufacturer. Nevertheless, there are still manufacturers today who issue a simple safety certificate for their products stating that these do not contain any ignition sources. This procedure does not fully exploit the possibilities of maximum safety that the current EU Directive 2014/34/EU aims to achieve.
Manufacturers simply need to continue along the same path, as the ignition risk assessment has already been carried out to issue the safety certificate. Now the documents only have to be deposited with a notified body and an EU declaration of conformity can be issued.
Mankenberg consistently implements the EU Directive 2014/34/EU, as this approach ensures a sustainable improvement in product quality and safe system operation.
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