A hazardous area computer is one that allows an operator to interface with a hazardous environment through the computer. The monitors can be used in the hazardous environment in order to protect individuals and yet still monitor conditions.
Hazardous environments are those that contain explosive gases or dust while they are operating or in other, more abnormal circumstances. The hazard area computers and their monitors provide controls and information while helping to prevent explosions, or containing explosions that have already occurred. Operators are then protected through the interface system from the hazardous environment and the environment is also protected from the operator interface system.
A hazardous area computer has to comply with safety guidelines that have been defined by a number of regulatory services and agencies. In order to market the computers on a global basis, the US has an International Electro technical Commission system that classified the various systems based on traditional zones. The concepts of this organization are classification, temperature codes, gas grouping, markings, and protection methods.
Under these systems, the hazardous area computer options are identified for a variety of uses in explosive gas atmospheres. They are designated based on the things that they can identify such as the following:
-The likelihood that an explosive gas atmosphere is present when the computer is operating.
-The properties of ignition-related explosive gas in the atmosphere.
-The maximum allowed surface temperature of the existing equipment under their normal conditions of operations.
-The operation of the protective methods of the equipment that prevents ignition of surrounding atmospheres.
The type of hazardous area computer that is used depends on the environment in which it is needed. The first division involved computers that are necessary where ignitable items like flammable gases, liquids, or vapors are in existence all or even some of the time during the normal operations. There are two different zones under these conditions. Zone 0 is one in which these flammables are around for long periods of time during the normal operations and zone 1 is when the flammable gases are around only some of the time during the normal operations.
Division two is for computers that have ignitable concentrations of flammable items that do not usually exist under normal operations. In this division, which is also called zone 2, ignitable contents do not normally exist when operations are being run.
Hazardous area computer operations can help protect operators from any of these zones and divisions and also give warning signs that something is about to transpire that is out of the ordinary. They can operate under strenuous conditions and save time, energy, and even lives in some of these dangerous conditions. They are necessary in a lot of different fields of operation.
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