Safety is extremely important during the storage, manufacture, processing and transportation of flammable materials, especially in the chemical and petrochemical industries, and in oil and gas production.

Gas chromatographs and the sample preparation carried out in these plants must be designed such that no explosive mixtures can be ignited when applied. National directives and guidelines as well as international standards regulate the equipment prerequisites.

The MAXUM edition II and MicroSAM chromatographs can be used in hazardous areas according to ATEX II 2G (zone 1) and ATEX II 3G (zone 2).

The following individual protective measures apply:

Type of protection: pressurized enclosure "p"

The ignition source is enclosed by a protective gas with overpressure (at least 0.5 hPa). Air is used in most cases. The surrounding explosive atmosphere cannot penetrate.

No flammable sample or flammable carrier gas may be passed into this pressurized area. Switching valves for the carrier gas H₂ must therefore be mounted outside this area.

The strength of the enclosure is at least 1.5 times the resistance to operating pressure.

An alarm is generated in the event of failure of the purging gas or the overpressure.

The electronics area must be purged prior to starting up the equipment.

This purging also provides additional protection in corrosive environments.

Type of protection: flameproof enclosure "d"

This type of protection is used for most of our detectors. The detector is fitted in an enclosure which is resistant to the explosion of an explosive atmosphere within it. This means that the mechanical stability of the enclosure must withstand this internal explosion pressure.

Joints must also be so tight that hot gas escaping between two parts of the enclosure is not explosive.

Ignition of an explosive atmosphere produced outside the enclosure is therefore reliably prevented. This is known as resistance to transmission of internal ignition.

The FID, TCD and FPD detectors are available with this degree of protection.

The maximum demands with regard to the joint parameters (width/length) are placed on enclosures of explosion group II C. MicroSAM is an example of this.

Basic design with MAXUM edition II

The electronic components are accommodated in a pressurized area. If the overpressure falls below a certain value, a control device switches off the power supply when a defined threshold is reached.

The MAXUM edition II is available with certificates according to CSA/US, or ATEX certificates according to Cenelec for the EU market.

MAXUM edition II

Basic design with MicroSAM

The MicroSAM is designed such that all components (electronic and analytical) are accommodated in a flameproof enclosure. The advantage of this version is that no additional purging gases or safety monitoring systems are required.

The MicroSAM is available with ATEX or FM/CSA certificates for the US market.

MicroSAM