Wherever there is a risk of gas/air or dust/air mixtures or other flammable combinations giving rise to a risk of explosion, the law and specific regulations necessitate the elimination of sources of ignition.
Areas must be assessed for the level of risk and equipment used in each area certified as suitable. Until now, those specifying electrical cables for such areas had a limited choice and have had to select from the products offered by various cable manufacturers only. Now, however, new product developments from conduit manufacturer Kopex International have opened the door to a much wider choice of solutions. The company offers metallic and non-metallic conduit systems that can provide more cost-effective cable management solutions without any compromise in safety or efficiency. Kopex is already renowned for its experience with and supply of ATEX approved products for use within hazardous areas and products that can be used in Zones 1, 2, 21 and 22 classifications. Conduit systems for ATEX applications cover metallic and non-metallic that are suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications. Liquid tight metallic conduit is steel cored and has a PVC coating. It is strong and offers a high level of impact resistance, capable of withstanding up to (7 joules) and different versions are available that offer varying degrees of oil & chemical resistance, low fire hazard and suitability for use in high temperatures. Non-metallic systems are also now available that can be supplied with braiding for extra strength whilst having the flexibility to be used in intricate applications. The major advantage of both these conduit systems is that they are available in diameters of up to 54mm and 63mm respectively. This allows the conduit to accept multiple cables. The advantages of using conduit instead of individual cores of cables then become apparent in terms of simplicity and reduced costs. The conduit effectively provides multi-core protection and, subject to the conduit system selected, offers all the necessary performance characteristics for a given application: EMC shielding with braided conduit, impact/crush resistance, anti-corrosion, high and low temperature operation and oil resistance. Using steel cored armoured metallic conduit to protect cables means that standard cables can frequently be used in applications where traditionally more expensive SWA specialist cable would have been specified. One Kopex solution allows for multi-cores to be run through the same conduit, cutting down on the amount of terminations. Conduit systems also have great versatility today with fittings available for a wide range of threads including metric, Pg and NPT with threaded adapters to join many different sizes.
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