Ammonia in non Class T Machinery room

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rfazeli55

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Hi, I have a non class T machinery room that has the ice rink equipment which has Ammonia in it. I reviewed the B52 code for refrigeration and it indicates that it should be class 1 zone 2 hazardous but B52-2013 was issued before the new 2015 code and in new CEC 2015 they have changed the hazardous location codes. So from section 18 of the CEC 2015 it seems that ammonia would be Zone 2 where explosive gas are not likely to occur during normal operation. The reason I am asking is that I know all new equipment should meet code with wiring and ratings but does this apply to control wires as well? I know for gas stations we have intrinsically safe wires but is this required in my case as well?

Thanks,
 
Please remember this is an NEC/NFPA site; not CEC or IEC. The CEC is far better attuned to IEC than the NEC with respect to hazardous locations.

Ammonia is a somewhat specialized case with respect to hazardous locations especially where it is used as a refrigerant. In US domestic use, hazardous locations for refrigerant ammonia are determined by ASHRAE 15, Safety Standard for Refrigeration Systems. See NFPA 497, Table 4.4.2.

That said, in absence of an intrinsically safe or nonincentive wiring system, wiring methods consistent with the area classification apply to control wiring no matter what standard is used for determining classification.
 
Thank you very much for the reply.

The one part that is confusing me in regards to this is that when they say WIRING does this only apply to line voltage or would it apply to low voltage wires as well? I know it might sound silly but just wanted to make sure I am not reading too much into it.

Thanks
 
Thank you very much for the reply.

The one part that is confusing me in regards to this is that when they say WIRING does this only apply to line voltage or would it apply to low voltage wires as well? I know it might sound silly but just wanted to make sure I am not reading too much into it.

Thanks
Again, I don't know what the Canadian Electrical Code's analog to the NEC's Article 725 is (for example) but wiring is wiring and the rules for hazardous location wiring applies - even for nonincentive and intrinsically safe wiring with respect to grounding and bonding.
 
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