Specification

When it comes to design and building panels for connections to ATEX equipment you can rely on the expertise of C&P Control Panel Services to deliver a fully compliant control panel, even if the panel itself is to be installed in a flammable atmosphere – as was the case with this Zone 2 Fibre Optic Switch Cabinet, designed, built and certified by our own ATEX qualified subject matter experts.

In 2014 the ATEX regulations extended to include fibre optic terminations as being potential ignition sources and a new concept ‘Ex op’ was born.

For end users taking fibres into hazardous areas, this means that fibre splice boxes or other equipment where fibres are terminated, must now themselves be ATEX certified since they present a risk of ignition due to the risk of focused light creating hot spots.

The client having recently extended the fibre optic network to include specialist analyser equipment within a zone 2, needed our in-house ATEX experts to design from conceptual stage discussions a fully compliant ATEX certified cabinet containing ATEX ‘Ex op’ Splice Tray, Exe certified ethernet switch, Exe fuses, terminals and distribution wiring which then had to be ‘self-certified’ by C&P Control Panel Services for installation in Zone 2.

Following successful FAT, the panel was installed, tested and commissioned by our site installation team.