Test methods for electrical apparatus installed on dust environments with a risk of explosion

Dust is present in the industry in the form of clouds or layers and, although care is present, accidents occur due to ignition sources becoming active. After a revision of the current existing methods, three new test methods have been developed, relating to the most usual risks of this type on the industry: dust accumulations, dust clouds and dust layers. Finally round robin tests have been done between three European laboratories. The similarity between the results obtained from these three laboratories promise that the three test procedures described in this article are valid options for the safety and standarisation of the explosion risk being studied and will constitute a proposal for the European Committee of Electrical Standarization (CENELEC) as a basis for the elaboration of standard test methods.