Electric Motors for Hazardous Areas Must Meet the Electrical Safety and Other Requirements for Industrial Equipment

Abstract

Electric motors when installed in Class I, Division 1 / Zone 1 or Class I Division 2 / Zone 2 locations, are not only meeting the specific design requirements of applicable industry standards of hazardous locations but also of non-hazardous locations to establish basic safety guidelines. These may include some requirements of reliability, performance, and other requirements as established by the applicable Industry standards for non-hazardous locations. When those motors are approved by applicable NRTLs (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories) or CBs (Certification Body), they assume that the electrical safety requirements are met voluntarily or be approved depending upon local country codes/regulations. In this paper, the authors would like to identify the key differences between the requirements of hazardous locations and non-hazardous locations for the benefit of end users and others as applicable.