The Government of India's Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) Chief Controller of Explosives (CCOE) issues approvals to products for hazardous environments that conform to Indian standards. Approval from the CCOE is mandatory for all electrical equipment installed in explosive or potentially explosive atmospheres.
Euroswitch have experience certifying instrumentation such as proximity/limit switches, flow/level switches, pressure switches/sensors and vibration sensors/accelerometers for use in all hazardous areas including those requiring PESO-CCOE approvals. These areas typically include petroleum refineries, storage installations, storage sheds, service stations or any other place where petroleum/LPG/CNG is refined, blended, stored, loaded/filled or unloaded.
For the purpose of installation of electrical equipment, the areas have been divided into 3 categories of hazardous areas namely :
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- Zone 0 area where inflammable gas and vapour are expected to be continuously present eg., inside the tank.
- Zone 1 area where inflammable gas and vapour are expected to be present under normal operating conditions eg., on the mouth of the vent pipe or near fill point, unloading point etc., during the operation.
- Zone 2 area where inflammable gas and vapour are expected to be present under abnormal operating condition eg., during the failure or rupture of the equipment.
Explosive gases are classified under two broad categories. with Group II being split into 3 subcategories.
Gas Groups and Representative Test Gas
I - Methane (mining only)
IIA (least easy to ignite) - Propane
IIB - Ethylene
IIC (most easy to ignite) - Hydrogen + Acetylene
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