ATEX Motor used in the US (C1/D2)

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ibarrola

Member
Location
Houston
Hi,
A European vendor will be providing an equipment which will be located in a C1/D2 area and can't find a motor in the EU that will meet our requirements and certifications.

We require an induction motor with a T3 code and group IIC (based on NEC 505) . I read that having the ATEX certificate would not be enough, the motor would need to be certified by a NRTL, such as UL. The vendor has not been able to find a motor manufacturer in the EU that can meet these requirements and thus they are trying to purchase a motor from the US which would increase the lead time and also cause some re-design on the vendors side.

There must be a motor manufacturer, such as ABB or Siemens that certifies such motors from a NRTL such as TUV SUD in Europe.
Has anyone encountered such problem?

Thanks in advance,
Yogi
 

rbalex

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Mission Viejo, CA
Occupation
Professional Electrical Engineer
Actually, both UL and INTERTEK have affiliates in several European locations. However, consider Section 501.125(B) as well.
 

ibarrola

Member
Location
Houston
Thanks rbalex...

So my take on exception 4 is that an induction motor, without an arc/spark producing device does not have to be identified (so no mention of area classification on the motor namplate) for such location and can be used. And note 1 mentions to consider max surface temperature which is the reason I am specifying T3 code. Note 2 is a bit vague in terms of "large motors and generators".

So with that being said, I would not need to specify the group IIC, if the motor has no arc and spark devices, we could just specify the temperature code in order to remain below that temperature (for normal operating conditions). And this motor could be a TEFC...

Now, if we do order a flameproof Exd motor, then we would need to specify the group and temp code.
Let me know what you think...

I'll check Interlek, thanks again.
Yogi
 

rbalex

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Mission Viejo, CA
Occupation
Professional Electrical Engineer
Specifying "Ex d" is no better than using ATEX in the first place. It needs to be "AEx d". See Sections 501.5 AND 505.9(C)(2)(4).

Depending on how confident you are, you may consider Section 500.8(A)(3).
Some other considerations for Class I, Division 2:
  • Section 501.125(B), permits but does not require listing or labeling.
  • Minimum motor nameplate data requirements (in any application) are specified in Section 430.7.
  • There is no Exception 4 in Section 501.123(B) - but you had the right basic idea.
 
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