What do zones 0, 1, 2 and safe area mean?
Acc. to ATEX every operator of a plant has to classify the hazardous areas of the plant into ZonesThe image illustrates simplified the zones of explosives atmospheres: Zone 0 Permanent explosive atmosphere Zone 1 Zone 1 hazardous area is classified as an area where an explosive atmosphere is likely to occur during normal operation. These conditions would be expected to be present for between 10 and 1000 hours per year. Zone 2 In zone 2 hazardous area an explosive gas is not likely to occur during normal operation but if it should occur for some reason it would only exist for a short time. A potentially explosive atmosphere will occur for less than 10 hours per year.