Special Protection (Ex “s”)

Special protection “s” allows a design concept that cannot comply in full with recognised type of protection or where the design concept is not covered by recognised types of protection.

In the past, equipment which did not met the requirements of a particulate construction standards has been certified under the BASEEFA Standard ‘Special Protection Ex s’/

Special Protection is not included in the IEC/BS EN 500 or BS EN60079 series construction standards, nor in the IEC 60079-14 & -17 installation, inspection and maintenance standards.

Later, in the year 2012, International standards IEC 60079-33, Equipment protection by special protection “s” was published.

Standards #

IEC 60079-33 gives the specific methodology for the assessment and testing requirements for marking of electrical equipment, parts oof electrical equipment and Ex component with special protection “s”.

The standard is intended to provide framework to demonstrate how essential safety requirements can be met if not covered by established standards, thus allowing for innovation and dealing with unknowns.

Zones of Use: 0,1 & 2

EPL: Ma, Mb/ Ga, Gb, Gc/ Da, Db, Dc.

Application #

The equipment design may be evaluated as special protection “s”, where equipment design contains innovative, unique or alternative explosion protection which does not align with the recognised types of protection.

IEC 60079-33 applies to:

Electrical equipment employing a method of protection not covered by any existing standard in the IEC 60079 series.

Electrical equipment employing one or more recognised types of protection where the design and construction is not fully compliant with the standard for the type of protection.

Electrical equipment where the intended use is outside the parameters of the scope of the standard for the type of protection.