Awards celebrate excellence in hazardous areas

04 March 2009

This year’s HazardEx Awards have been announced and the winners were presented with their awards at a Gala Dinner held during the HazardEx 2009 Event in Harrogate last week.
As at previous HazardEx events, there were four categories at this year’s awards. Users and suppliers in the hazardous area industry and readers of publications carrying the HazardEx brand made nominations.

Protego- First approved flame arrestor for acetylene and ethylene oxide

Short lists of finalists in each category were drawn up, then our readers voted.

The first award category, Contribution towards safety was sponsored by The 61508 Association. The winner was safety equipment specialist, Protego for the launch of the first approved flame arrestor for both acetylene and ethylene oxide. The resulting product was considered by the judging panel to be a major contribution towards the safe operation of plants handling these gases. Acetylene and ethylene oxide are highly flammable gases with the potential for exothermic explosive decomposition. Therefore, they present a difficult challenge for flame arresters and up to now type approved flame arresters for these gases have been unavailable. Runners up for the Contribution towards safety were Detronics for the Eagle Quantum Premier (EQP) fire and gas detection system, which provides the basis for steadily reliable yet flexible safety solutions; and ABB for the Trip Requirement and Availability Calculator, to determine SIL, assisting operating businesses in improving their credible layers of protection whilst at the same time optimising the cost of safety.

The second award category, Technical innovation of the year was sponsored by R Stahl and was won by Technor for the introduction of an ATEX certified luminaire with a 10-year guarantee. The luminaire is a completely environmentally sealed unit manufactured from seawater resistant aluminium body and tempered glass window to resolve the problem of water ingress and polycarbonate deterioration that some end users are experiencing over time with traditional fittings. Inspection becomes significantly easier because the unit is completely environmentally sealed, only visual inspection to EN 60079-17 is required. There are no more flame-paths, connection chambers or gaskets to check. Runners up for the Technical innovation of the year were Motorola for the latest member of its outdoor access point range, the Haz-location certified AP-5181, to extend the wireless enterprise into the harshest work environments; and Softstart for the World’s first explosion proof medium voltage starter.

The third award category, User application was sponsored by Pepperl and Fuchs and the winner was R Stahl for variable frequency drives and centrifuges for Zone 1 Variable frequency drives (VFD) provide a standard solution to get the top performance of machines. However, installing VFDs inside hazardous areas limits the design possibilities in achieving a compact solution to a Zone 1 installation. Due to the heat generated from the power electronics, many control systems have to be installed outside the hazardous area or use the alternative hydraulic drive system. With Stahl’s concept, the VFD can be installed inside the hazardous area and close to the machine. This development provides the solution to build compact skid mounted systems for Zone 1 installations. The runners up for User application were STL for the Ex lifeboat lighting system, which provides 12 hours of distributed light from 3 compact, low voltage, 11 watt, Zone 2 luminaires; and EPM solutions for computerised engineering software systems which assist asset intensive companies to proactively manage and maintain their assets.

Finally, the fourth award category, Event sponsors special award was sponsored by HazardEx. The Winner was STL International. STL International was founded with the specific aim of supplying end-users, project specifiers, consultants/contractors, installers and system integrators as well as OEM’s and distributors; with cost effective solutions and product recommendations for hazardous area and industrial applications. With more than 40 years experience, the scope is wide, STL offers the widest available range of hazardous and industrial light fittings and luminaires. The runners up for the Event sponsors special award were Pepperl and Fuchs who were voted No 1 Supplier of intrinsic safety devices and components. They are the world’s largest supplier of intrinsically safe instrumentation; and MTL, a division of Cooper Crouse-Hinds. The company is the recognised world leader in Fieldbus power systems and wiring components, Intrinsic Safety interfaces and surge protection techniques as well as being a leading authority in Industrial Ethernet, IP security technologies and Visualisation for safe and hazardous locations.

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