WG 3.6 Position paper on building analyser houses

In its position paper NAMUR Working Group 3.6 Analyser Systems outlines its view of the application of IEC 61285 and lEC 60079-13 to the installation of analyser houses.

For more than 30 years, the chemical industry in Germany has built analyser houses on the basis of recommendations which had proven their value under practical conditions. As a result, IEC 61285 was developed.

Basically, IEC 61285 is a construction standard laying down requirements for the safe construction and operation of analyser houses.

There is also lEC 60079-13 which covers explosion protection in pressurised rooms "p" and/or rooms with technical ventilation. This standard was drafted like a product standard for explosion-proof devices. Its aim is to describe normative requirements permitting such a room to be certified as a traded commodity within the meaning of the IEC standards. In this case, the entire room is categorised according to an Equipment Protection Level (EPL) or a device conformity category according to ATEX.

NAMUR WG 3.6 feels that in many cases this approach is not expedient for analyser houses since, like a made-to-measure suit, analyser houses need to be tailored to the measuring tasks and general setting of the process plant.

NAMUR has drafted a paper describing the experts' position within NAMUR regarding the distinction between IEC 61285 and lEC 60079-13 when applied to analyser houses.

See position paper->