Hazardous Location and volume of solvent?

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Does the volume of solvent come into play when determining the classification of an area and the layout /size of the classification zones?
Example: does 55 Gallon drum of flamable solvent get treated any different than a two liter bottle of the same solvent?
 

rbalex

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Staff member
Location
Mission Viejo, CA
Occupation
Professional Electrical Engineer
  1. Does the volume of solvent come into play when determining the classification of an area and the layout /size of the classification zones? YES
  2. Example: does 55 Gallon drum of flamable solvent get treated any different than a two liter bottle of the same solvent? YES
Article 515 is largely extracted from NFPA 30, Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code which is a listed reference document in Section 500.4(B), FPN No.2. In addition to NFPA 30, Chapter 7, which deals primarily with "electrical" considerations, take a look at Annex F, Fugitive Emissions Calculations which considers things such as volume and layout. Depending on the application, several other references in 500.4(B) also deal with fire considerations that could affect judgment calls on electrical area classification.
 

walton

Member
Location
Sacramento, CA
Control Area

Control Area

Just for reference check IBC Group H Occupancy Division 2 "Control Area". Sets limits on storage of flammable and combustible liquids.
 
Thank you +

Thank you +

Thank you for the info. NFPA section 34 also has an exception for Dipping and Coating processes.

Exception: This space shall be permitted to be nonclassified for purposes of electrical installations if the surface area of the vapor source does not exceed 0.5 m2 (5 ft2), the contents of the dip tank, ink fountain, ink reservoir, or ink tank do not exceed 19 L (5 gal), and the vapor concentration during operating and shutdown periods does not exceed 25 percent of the lower flammable limit.
 
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