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Magnum Spill Buster, Hazardous Environment Safety Review
HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENT SAFETY REVIEW OF CLEAN EARTH TECHNOLOGY, INC.’S MAGNUM SPILL BUSTER™ SYSTEM1.0 SUMMARY
The Magnum Spill Buster™ is an electrically operated system that is used to pump free phase petroleum hydrocarbons from groundwater. In most cases, the product is recovered via drilled recovery wells. Virtually all recovery wells fall under the classification of "hazardous environment" (Class 1, Division 1, Group D atmospheres). Each component of a system that is located in the hazardous environment must be either "explosion proof" or "intrinsically safe".
The Magnum Spill Buster system was designed for use under this "Hazardous Environment" classification as defined by the National Electric Code. Most of the components in the Magnum Spill Buster system, including the probe sensors, pump motor, auto-seeker motor, product tank probe and electrical cables are designed to be "intrinsically safe". The only component of the system that is not intrinsically safe is the control panel, which is specified to be located in a non-hazardous location. However, the control panel can be mounted within a certified "explosion proof" enclosure if required by the application (please refer to section 7.0).
An "explosion proof" component is one that is mounted inside a heavily constructed enclosure. The enclosure is not intended to seal off this component from the explosive atmosphere. Rather, it is designed to contain any explosion that might be ignited by an electrical fault of the equipment inside it.
2.0 INTRODUCTION TO INTRINSIC SAFETY
The concept of intrinsic safety is completely different from any of the other recognized methods of protection. If a piece of electrical equipment is intrinsically safe, this means that it is safe by its own nature, without any outside protection. Intrinsic safety means that, when the equipment is installed and operated in the specified flammable/combustible atmosphere, the unit will not create a spark with enough energy to create ignition, even with fault conditions. To achieve this, the voltage and current draw are kept so low that even a direct short will not create a spark big enough to create ignition.
3.0 DEFINITION OF INTRINSIC SAFETY
The following abbreviated definitions are typical:
Intrinsic Safety-
A protection technique based upon the restriction of electrical energy to a level below that which can cause ignition by either sparking or heating effects.
Intrinsically Safe Circuit-
A circuit in which any spark or thermal effect produced in normal operation and specified fault conditions is not capable of causing ignition.
4.0 THE BASIS OF IGNITION LEVEL DETERMINATION
The minimum ignition curves, or 'gas curves' as they are usually known, summarize the results of thousands of experiments which determined the magnitude of currents over a range of voltages that are just capable of igniting a critical mixture of gas and air at normal temperature and pressure. The size of the igniting spark varies greatly according to the particular gas tested. It has been found to be convenient, when considering the very large numbers of gases and vapors that occur, to divide them into Gas Groups.
In the North American Hazardous Location Classification System, Group D atmospheres include gases and vapors potentially present in the petroleum products we encounter during product recovery operations. The gases and vapors that are the most easily ignited are selected for testing. In this way, after applying generous margins of safety, the levels of voltage current that are intrinsically safe are established.
5.0 THE SPILL BUSTER INTRINSIC SAFETY LEVELS
All components, such as the probe, the electronic sensor, the product tank probe, and the Auto-Seeker, operate with very low DC voltages and currents. The voltages and currents are significantly below the gas ignition curves specified and are well within the specified safe operating range.The exception is the low voltage DC product pump which operates at higher DC voltages and current levels. The Magnum Spill Buster product pump is a fuel injection pump originally developed for the diesel trucking industry. This pump is typical of the type of pump used throughout the automotive industry today. It is a high-pressure fuel injection pump designed to operate within the fuel tanks of trucks and automobiles with the fuel flowing right through the electric motor to provide cooling and lubrication for the pump motor. High-pressure fuel injection pumps of this type have been used exclusively since 1990 when the last non-fuel injected automobile was manufactured. Pumps in automotive applications typically operate in the 16 VDC at 10 Amps range. However this is still well under the group D ignition level curves.
Interestingly, there has never been an intrinsic safety certification performed on any of this type of automotive-based fuel injection pump by any certification body. However, these pumps are empirically proven to be "intrinsically safe " every day through their sheer numbers and usage throughout the world.
Clean Earth Technology has taken further steps in ensuring that this pump will operate safely in the defined atmospheres where Spill Buster systems are operated by lowering the maximum pump operating voltage to 9VDC at a lower current of 8.5 amps. This ensures that the Spill Buster's pump will operate well within the defined intrinsic safety curves, and at even safer levels than in its normal designed operating environments. See the attached graph for test results.
6.0 CONTROL PANEL
The control panel is the only component that will not meet the "hazardous environment" requirements of Class 1, Division 1, Group D atmospheres. The control panel must be located in a non-hazardous location. However, it must be noted that the low voltage connections to intrinsic safety circuits have been electrically and physically separated from the high voltage power input to the control panel, thus maintaining the "Intrinsically Safe Circuit" requirements of the system.
7.0 CERTIFIED EXPLOSION PROOF ALTERNATIVES
TO THE STANDARD MAGNUM SPILL BUSTER SYSTEM
There are several alternatives to supply certified safety options that are recognized by international approval organizations for the standard Spill Buster system:
1. Control Panel: The control panel can be mounted in a large explosion proof box that meets the Class 1, Division 1, Group D atmospheres requirements. UL, FM, CSA and CENELEC certify these boxes.
2. Auto-Seeker: The auto-seeker motor can also be mounted in an explosion proof box that meet the Class 1, Division 1, Group D atmospheres requirements. UL, FM, CSA and CENELEC certify these boxes.
3. Probe Sensors: The interface sensors located in the probe can be protected by the addition of a certified electrical safety barrier that is approved by UL, FM, CSA, SA and CENELEC.
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