Whether explosion-proof is required for electrical equipment in air compressor room

Whether the electrical equipment of the air compressor room needs to be explosion-proof depends on the specific environment and application requirements of the room. The specific analysis is as follows:

1. need explosion-proof scenarios

1. presence of flammable and explosive gases or dust
   in the chemical, petrochemical, coal, natural gas processing and other industries, the air compressor room may be in a flammable and explosive environment. If the air is mixed with combustible gas or dust (such as hydrogen, methane, coal dust, etc.), and the concentration reaches the explosion limit, once it encounters fire or high temperature (such as electric spark, equipment overheating), it may cause explosion accident, causing casualties and equipment damage.
   Regulatory requirements according to the standards of Explosive Atmospheres Part 1: General Requirements for Equipment (GB 3836.1), explosion-proof measures must be taken in the environment with explosion hazards to ensure production safety and personnel health.

2. Uses closely related to hazardous substances
   for example, in the lithium battery production workshop, the air compressor is used to drive pneumatic equipment, if the dust concentration exceeds the standard, it may cause a dust explosion; or in the natural gas compression station, the air compressor is used to assist in fuel delivery, and it is necessary to prevent electrical sparks from igniting natural gas.

Core content of 2. explosion-proof measures

1. selection of explosion-proof electrical equipment
   • explosion-proof type: According to the division of hazardous areas (e. g. Zone 0, Zone 1 and Zone 2), equipment with explosion-proof structure such as flameproof type (d), increased safety type (e) and intrinsically safe type (I) shall be selected.
   • Material and structure: The equipment shell should have impact resistance and penetration resistance. If QT600 ductile iron is used for casting, the wall thickness will be increased by 30%. The motor winding is embedded with a temperature sensor to control the temperature rise in coordination with the heat dissipation design.
   • gas path system: 316L stainless steel pipeline is adopted, and the joint is sealed with metal wound gasket, and the leakage rate is less than 0.01ppm.
2. Ventilation and monitoring
   • positive pressure ventilation by continuous injection of clean gas (such as compressed air or nitrogen), maintain positive pressure in the cabinet (such as 70Pa ~ 400Pa) to prevent the entry of external explosive gas.
   • Gas monitoring: Install combustible gas concentration monitor and alarm device to monitor the gas concentration in real time, automatically cut off the power supply and start emergency measures (such as nitrogen purging) when the limit is exceeded.
3. Anti-static and lightning protection
   • the grounding resistance of the equipment shall meet the standard (such as ≤ 4Ω) to prevent electrostatic accumulation;
   • install lightning arresters to avoid sparks caused by lightning strikes.
4. Operation and Maintenance Management
   • personnel training operators shall be trained in explosion-proof safety, master emergency skills and conduct regular drills.
   • Equipment maintenance make medium and large repair plan, clean carbon regularly, check the air tightness of pipeline, and prevent carbon deposits from spontaneous combustion or leakage.
   • Temperature control: Select qualified lubricating oil and control the exhaust temperature (such as ≤ 150 ℃) to avoid carbonization of lubricating oil to form explosive medium.

3. without explosion-proof scenarios

if the air compressor room is located in an ordinary industrial environment (such as a glass factory, a food factory, etc.), and there is no flammable and explosive gas or dust in the air, explosion-proof measures are not required. However, the following basic safety requirements shall be met:

• electrical equipment meets national electrical safety standards (such as GB/T 14048 series);
• regular maintenance to avoid equipment overheating or short circuit;
• keep the machine room well ventilated to prevent the accumulation of combustibles.