WHAT ATEX MEANS…

ATEX is an acronym for ATmospheres EXplosible.

The ATEX directive covers hazardous or potentially explosive fan applications in environments which can be gaseous such as petrochemical or dusty such as flour and saw mills. The level of danger of an explosive condition is classified in Zones in Europe and in Classes in the USA. The table below lists the classes and their divisions.

ATEX FAN GUIDE

Halifax Fan produce a wide range of centrifugal and axial fans to meet the ATEX directives. As a company who were instrumental in the creation of the ATEX directive with an installed base of thousands of ATEX fans, we have produced an ATEX fan guide poster for you to download.

WHERE ATEX COMES FROM…

The ATEX Directive was developed within the EU and from July 2003 it became law within the European community to meet its requirements. The directive covers any equipment, electrical or mechanical which is to be used within one of the ATEX zones, it then details how the product must be designed, constructed and tested to comply with the particular ATEX standard.

The presence of a spark or excessive heat to trigger an explosion can be created mechanically as easily as electrically or electrostatically and industrial fans were identified as a major source of potential ignition across a wide variety of industries.

Because of this a EU committee was set up to create a standard specifically for fans for use in explosive environments and the Halifax Fan engineering team were invited to form a part of this advisory group.

This group were instrumental in the formulation of the resulting ATEX regulations, now ATEX 2014/34/EU 94/9/EC, BS EN 14986:2007.

The ATEX directive is only a legal requirement in Europe, however many outside of the EU use it as a good set of guidelines when installing equipment into a hazardous area location..

WHAT DOES ATEX MEAN TO YOU?

It should be noted that ATEX is applicable not only to fans in hazardous applications. Users and OEMs must also be aware of the implications of ATEX in respect of their own installations. A technical paper, ‘Implications for Manufacturers’ was presented to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 2003 and contains a wealth of vital information for those specifying fans for hazardous area use.

WHY HALIFAX FAN?

As part of the ATEX directive, Halifax Fan has a duty to liaise with customers and obtain particular information to help us understand the correct category. To help us and our customers have the right solution an ATEX Fan Enquiry form can be downloaded by clicking the button below to start the enquiry process and although not mandatory, is offered for guidance and a basis for discussion.

One of the implications of the ATEX regulations is that only companies with recognised quality certification are permitted to produce fans or other equipment for installations requiring ATEX certification. We have ISO9001:2015 certification across all three fan factories covering design, manufacturing and servicing industrial fans.

Halifax Fan is a leader in the field in the design and manufacture of ATEX fans and can produce in their fan factories in Europe, China and the USA a wide range of axial and centrifugal fans to meet the demanding specifications of the ATEX directive.

Every fan is customised and then manufactured to meet exactly the needs of the application giving an efficient, reliable and safe solution. For over 50 years Halifax Fan has an installed base of thousands of hazardous area fans globally and can solve your hazardous fan requirements for all explosive environment conditions.