HAZARD FROM ELECTRIFICATION OF MATERIALS, COMPONENTS AND TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT INTENDED FOR USE IN POTENTIALLY EXPLOSIVE ATMOSPHERES

Abstract

The continuous development of human society from a technical-economic point of view is closely related to the increase in energy consumption. However, this implies the rapid depletion of existing fossil fuels and an accelerated increase in global pollution. At the moment, to counteract these impediments, one of the most important sources that can be used for the purpose of energy production, without having a negative impact on the environment, is hydrogen. Due to the fact that, when mixed with air, hydrogen can generate potentially explosive atmospheres, it is necessary to adopt and apply protective measures aimed at ensuring an acceptable level of protection in accordance with current regulations. These measures materialize mainly through the use of appropriately protected technical equipment in locations where potentially explosive atmospheres generated by the presence of hydrogen are possible. Some of these equipment�s are provided with non-metallic casings on which the type of protection of the respective equipment depends. That is why, in order to demonstrate the ability of the non-metallic materials that make up the equipment casings, to maintain the specific type of protection after exposure to extreme, positive and negative temperatures, it is of particular importance to determine the thermal endurance of the respective casings by performing laboratory tests. This paper highlights the importance of determining the thermal endurance in the case of equipment with non-metallic casings and non-metallic parts of the casings intended to be used in potentially explosive atmospheres generated by hydrogen, as well as the method and equipment required to perform laboratory tests for its determination.