In areas at risk of explosion, enclosure systems must meet the highest safety requirements. Such fields include petrochemicals, refineries, oil platforms, filling stations or infrastructure areas involving LNG and now – increasingly – hydrogen. These safety requirements include ATEX, IECEx and UL HazLoc approvals. Rittal’s new AX plastic Ex enclosures offer this certified safety. Furthermore, thanks to their high level of robustness, outdoor capability and wide range of expansion options, both plant operators and constructors gain a massive amount of added value.
Enclosure systems in Europe and North America must strictly adhere to multiple safety requirements and standards to protect people and technology from possible explosions and fires. Enclosures used in hazardous areas that house a variety of equipment or components must have ATEX, IECEx or UL HazLoc approvals. These standards specify far higher demands for products to limit the greater risks in their application areas.
Rittal’s new AX Ex empty enclosures made of glass reinforced polyester, which replace the previous KS-based enclosures, adhere to these requirements. They are approved for use cases in potentially explosive atmospheres caused by gases (zones 1 and 2) or dust (zones 21 and 22). The result is an enclosure technology that fulfils all the preconditions for maximum safety and robustness, including for outdoor applications. Tightness is ensured by a secure enclosure design with double sealing at the top and bottom edges of the door provided by an integrated rain protection strip made of robust material resistant to temperature and UV emissions.
At the same time, the new Ex enclosures simplify interior installation and offer far more mounting options. Numerous mounting bosses in the enclosure make interior installation easy. They allow system accessories such as punched sections, bars and rails to be screwed to the inside of the enclosure quickly and directly. Door-operated switches and door stays can also be directly attached to the mounting bosses. Moreover, DIN rails in the enclosure can be screwed directly onto the existing mounting bosses. The mounting plate can be easily screwed from the front using the pre-assembled bolts and even be earthed later via the existing machined keyhole. Besides this, wall mounting is easily implemented via the external threaded inserts while retaining UL certification and the protection class.
The new AX plastic Ex enclosures come in eight versions ranging from 200 to 800 mm wide, 300 to 1,000 mm high and 150 to 300 mm deep. Rittal’s product range also includes Ex enclosures made of stainless steel.
Ex enclosures are used in refineries, drilling platforms, oil tankers, pipelines and infrastructure applications revolving around LNG, hydrogen, for example. They are also used where fine dust can be generated that may ignite, such as in mills or large bakeries