Potentially explosive atmospheres: preventing accidents in the oil industry

Abstract

This article presents concepts and real cases, as well as standards and regulations, related to environments with potentially explosive atmospheres, and analyzes the advancement of this topic within the Brazilian oil industry through the analysis of non-conformities found in audits conducted in offshore oil facilities. The main purpose of this study is to identify opportunities for improvement and help disseminate the importance of this topic within the Brazilian territory. As will be presented, this subject is increasingly present in our daily lives, but still suffers from a lack of knowledge by a large portion of industry professionals. Additionally, this work has the potential to contribute to the creation of new measures and assist in the development of protection systems and standards within industrial environments regarding the risks of explosions in potentially explosive atmospheres in the oil industry at the national level.