Flow-Tech Enclosures

North American Hazardous
Area Classifications

The classes defines the general nature of hazardous material in the surrounding atmosphere.

Class	Hazardous Material in Surrounding Atmosphere
Class I	Hazardous because flammable gases or vapors are present in the air in quantities sufficient to produce explosive or ignitable mixtures.
Class II	Hazardous because combustible or conductive dusts are present.
Class III	Hazardous because ignitable fibers or flying's are present, but not likely to be in suspension in sufficient quantities to produce ignitable mixtures. (Group classifications are not applied to this class.)

The division defines the probability of hazardous material being present in an ignitable concentration in the surrounding atmosphere.

Division	Presence of Hazardous Material
Division 1	The substance referred to by class is present during normal conditions.
Division 2	The substance referred to by class is present only in abnormal conditions, such as a container failure or system breakdown.

The group defines the hazardous material in the surrounding atmosphere.

Group	Hazardous Material in Surrounding Atmosphere
Group A	Acetylene
Group B	Hydrogen, fuel and combustible process gases containing more than 30% hydrogen by volume or gases of equivalent hazard such as butadiene, ethylene, oxide, propylene oxide and acrolein.
Group C	Ethyl and ethylene or gases of equivalent hazard.
Group D	Gasoline, acetone, ammonia, benzene, butane, cyclopropane, ethanol, hexane, methanol, methane, natural gas, naphtha, propane or gases of equivalent hazard.
Group E	Combustible metal dusts, including aluminum, magnesium and their commercial alloys or other combustible dusts whose particle size, abrasiveness and conductivity present similar hazards in connection with electrical equipment.
Group F	Carbonaceous dusts, coal black, charcoal, coal or coke dusts that have more than 8% total entrapped volatiles or dusts that have been sesitized by other material so they present an explosion hazard.
Group G