SmartFreeze does a lot of work in the petrochemical industry. Because of the nature of these applications, standard electrical classifications, such as Nema 3R or Nema 4, will not always suffice.There are some more hazardous areas which fall into a classified or explosion-proof designation. For these specialty applications, a standard “off-the-shelf” unit will not be enough.

To understand what exactly explosion-proof involves, let us discuss the meaning of this classification. In a Class I application, there is a flammable gas or vapor present in the area. Because of this product in the atmosphere, any spark could cause an explosion. The second part of this classification is typically labeled a Division 2 condition, where you have an abnormal environment. Division 1 is where an explosive product (gas or vapor) is being contained. However when these containment facilities are leaking, you have an abnormal condition, or Division 2. The classification is broken down further into a Group; category. The Group classification separates these gases and vapors by their ignition temperature, explosion pressure, and other explosive elements. The most common classifications are Groups C and D. Gases found in these groups include hydrocarbons, ether, fuels, and solvents.

Now that we understand this information, we realize why meeting and exceeding an explosion-proof electrical classification is so critical. If you have an explosion-proof requirement in your plant, making sure that your equipment strictly conforms to these requirement standards can truly be a matter of life and death for your employees. Smart Family of Cooling Products has over 15 years of experience with explosion-proof equipment and we build all of our units to exceed NEC requirements for the given area classification.

The air cooled screw chiller pictured is a model SSCD200AR4Q low temperature, explosion-proof air cooled screw chiller. Some of the standard features on this unit include: Hazardous duty terminal box on the compressor(s), intrinsically safe compressor solenoid valves, intrinsically safe hot gas bypass solenoid valve(s), anti-static condenser fan blades, intrinsically safe liquid line solenoid valve, installed safepaks where required, intrinsically safe temperature sensors and pressure transducers, Nema 4/4X or Nema 7 electrical enclosure, Z-purge kit where required, Nema 4 window kit for SmartAdvance2 controller, rigid conduit with maximum 24″ final seal-tite terminations, installed low point conduit drains, 316 stainless steel control tubing with 0.049″ tubewall thickness including Swagelok/Parker fittings.

For more information on our Explosion-proof Chillers, including catalog data, please visit our product page: XP Chillers