Power ventilation equipment

UL announces a new Listing service for direct-drive and belt-drive power ventilators intended for use in Class I and II, Division 1 and 2 hazardous (classified) locations. The UL category for this new Listing service is: Ventilators, Power, for Use in Hazardous Locations, ZANE. The first UL Listings under this new service and category were issued in early 2001 to Emerson Ventilation Products of Lenexa, KS. These Listings covered two separate lines of their ventilators for use in Class I, Groups C and D, and Class II, Groups E, F and G hazardous locations.

Background

Prior to the establishment of this new UL Listing service for direct-drive and belt-drive power ventilators for use in hazardous locations, there was -- and continues to be -- a long-standing, active UL ordinary locations Listing service: Ventilators, Power, ZACT. Under this ordinary locations Listing service, the UL evaluation addresses a number of issues, including the risk of fire, electric shock and personal injury associated with the power ventilator. However, this UL evaluation of power ventilators under ZACT does not address the risk of explosion associated with the use of this equipment in hazardous locations as defined by Articles 500-502 of the National Electrical Code, NFPA-70.

Due to this lack of UL Listed hazardous locations power ventilators, the use of such ventilators in hazardous locations typically involved a UL Listed ordinary locations power ventilator that would then be modified by the manufacturer for use in hazardous locations. As this modification, and subsequent use, was not covered by the ordinary locations UL Listing, the suitability of these power ventilators would then have to be fully determined in the field by the installer, and by the authority having jurisdiction over the end-installation.

Now, with this new UL category: Ventilators, Power, for Use in Hazardous Locations, ZANE, there is an avenue available to manufacturers, installers and inspectors to readily establish that a given power ventilator is suitable for use in a given hazardous (classified) location, thus helping to reduce the possibility of unintentional misuse of a power ventilator design that does not address all the applicable risk of explosion issues, and would therefore not be suitable for use in hazardous locations.

Implementation

There are likely to be some products, currently Listed under ZACT, that could be established as being in compliance with the requirements of ZANE without a significant amount of engineering time, and without any additional testing. UL staff is available to work with any client, on a case-by-case basis, to determine the suitability of any existing ordinary locations power ventilator that is UL Listed under ZACT, with the applicable hazardous locations requirements of ZANE.

Publication

Power ventilators that are UL Listed for use in hazardous locations will be published in UL's Hazardous Locations Equipment Directory (Red Book) under the new CCN: Ventilators, Power, for Use in Hazardous Locations, ZANE. Learn more about the Guide Information for this new category.