sirdle
Member
- Location
- California
The production area of an oil and gas lease is below grade in a large open pit, perhaps 100'x50'x20'. A new set of area classification drawings shows a combination of Class I, Division 1 and Division 2 areas with everything above the pit as unclassified (and everything inside the pit as at least a Div 2 area).
Conduit seals have been installed at the Div 2/unclassified boundary, but not at the Div 1/Div 2 boundaries. ALL electrical equipment in the Div 2 areas is currently rated for Div 1, and the conduit wiring system is suitable for Div 1.
If the Div 2 area were to be overclassified as Div 1, could the engineer eliminate the Div 2 area altogether? (The purpose of this would be to eliminate the considerable plant downtime which would be required to install Div 1/Div 2 boundary seals.)
Conduit seals have been installed at the Div 2/unclassified boundary, but not at the Div 1/Div 2 boundaries. ALL electrical equipment in the Div 2 areas is currently rated for Div 1, and the conduit wiring system is suitable for Div 1.
If the Div 2 area were to be overclassified as Div 1, could the engineer eliminate the Div 2 area altogether? (The purpose of this would be to eliminate the considerable plant downtime which would be required to install Div 1/Div 2 boundary seals.)