This document specifies requirements for design, construction, testing and marking of hand-held, portable and transportable vacuum cleaners, including their accessories, constructed to Group II, categories 2G or 3G (of explosion groups IIA, IIB, IIB plus hydrogen), and to Group II, categories 2D or 3D (of explosion groups IIIA, IIIB and IIIC), intended for the collection of combustible or non-combustible dusts and flammable or non-flammable liquids in potentially explosive atmospheres. A potentially explosive atmosphere could be generated by the equipment during its intended use.
NOTE 1 The accumulation of 1 mm or more of combustible dust on surfaces in a working area can create an explosive atmosphere (see reference to 1/32 in. of Depth of Dust Accumulation for Guidance for Area Electrical Classification in NFPA 654, 2017 Edition).
This document applies to equipment driven by electric power and by pneumatic power.
This document gives guidelines for dealing with significant hazards, hazardous situations and/or events relevant to vacuum cleaners when they are used as intended and under conditions of misuse which are reasonably foreseeable by the manufacturer.
Typical applications for the concerned equipment are:
- collection of dust produced by machinery at the point of generation;
- general housekeeping around machinery and of working areas; and/or
- collection of spills;
- cleaning of equipment during maintenance operations; and/or
- collection of specific waste.
For the collection of dust in the presence of flammable liquids or vapours, a specific risk assessment is performed if this is part of the vacuum cleaners intended conditions of use and additional precautions beyond what is described in this document can be required.
NOTE 2 The passage of dust through a vacuum cleaner will generate high levels of electrostatic charge which, in most situations, will be a potential source of ignition to a flammable gas or vapour atmosphere.
For the collection of lo ...