Battery room Lighting
Battery room Lighting
(OP)
Hi!
Anyone please give the IEC/IEEE standard which recommends Flame proof/Explosion proof lighting requirement for Flooded lead acid/Nicd battery room.
Advanced Thanks...
Anyone please give the IEC/IEEE standard which recommends Flame proof/Explosion proof lighting requirement for Flooded lead acid/Nicd battery room.
Advanced Thanks...





RE: Battery room Lighting
Keith Cress
Flamin Systems, Inc.- http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: Battery room Lighting
RE: Battery room Lighting
In our battery banks, simply we use a flourescent lighting fixture but its enclosure is very tough - a flame proof/Explosion proof lighting enclosure with built in arc chute.
About the standard, maybe you better consult battery suppliers or manufacturer.
RE: Battery room Lighting
It means that hydrogen doesn't show up very often but once in a while you can have concentrations that will blow the doors off the room.
Supposedly changing the air in the room so many times per hour can make the room normal. I have seen this used as an excuse to allow run of the mill fixtures in battery rooms.
If you try it make sure the fan is on standby power. Sometimes it's not and when the batteries are changing from standby power the gas is building up in the room.
RE: Battery room Lighting
"A battery area that meets the above ventilation requirements should not be considered a classified
(hazardous) location; thus special electrical equipment enclosures to prevent fire or explosion should not be
necessary."
The NESC is more concerned with physical damage:
"145. Illumination for Battery Areas
Lighting fixtures shall be protected from physical damage by guards or isolation. Receptacles and
lighting switches should be located outside of battery areas."
RE: Battery room Lighting
RE: Battery room Lighting
We have battery banks in substations, in the same room as the switchgear.
Typically, if the total volume of the batteries is less tahn 1% of the total free air volume in the room, H2 evolution is not a problem. That's what I can remember from a class I had a while back on Area Classification (API RP 500).
RE: Battery room Lighting
RE: Battery room Lighting
use two fans one duty one back up hook up a pressure diff switch to ensure that they switch. Run em off of emergency power dont just hook to ordinary utility boards - when they are charging hydrogen can build. isolator switches outside of the room and lockable.
95% of the time they are safe enough but its rule of thumb when its full of hydrogen is the time that you will have the problem!!!!
rugged
RE: Battery room Lighting
Frequently, many installations include hydrogen sensors for the battery room to shut down chargers in the event of hydrogen detection. It's unclear to me if there is any code requirement for such detection.