Explosion Proof Lighting

[jayblevins23]

We are a new distillery in Louisville and are hearing different things when it comes to our lighting in our distillery. We have 45 foot ceilings so our lighting will be at least 20 feet above any piece of equipment so is the xp lighting necessary? We had a lighting company state that we need class 1 lighting because of our distillery while another friend and distiller stated as long as the lighting is above 6 feet from our stills we could use high bay lighting. Thanks for the help!

[Ned]

Since ethanol vapor is heavier than air it's going want to settle near the floor so I wouldn't think xp lighting is necessary but that decision will fall to your local fire department not the lighting company so I'd recommend contacting them and you'd be bound by their decision assuming your town requires their inspection for change of use/occupancy and all that good stuff. At the very minimum I'd want shatter proof lighting over production and bottling areas.

[Rado Distilling]

We're finalizing our building permit right now and our City inspector told us that we only need explosion proff stuff within 3' of the floor with in 25' of > than 20% alcohol and anything within 5' of our production equipment. So we had to raise one of our bay lights since it was only 4-1/2' about our lyne arm.

[Silk City Distillers]

In an equipment failure situation, hot vapor will go straight up.

[Dehner Distillery]

I would use regulator lighting.

That would cost a lot of money to put in fluorescent lighting that was explosion proof.

[phillizard]

when the vapor in hotter than the surrounding air it will rise.

[CCREngineering]

When we helped do the layout for a spirit production facility here in Charleston SC, the fire marshal recommended that no electrical device or connections be within 18" of the highest level of alcohol. This allows for the vapor to settle on the floor without risk of ignition from an electrical circuit. They also installed a huge exhaust system that would evacuate the air from the building if there were a major spill.

[Ned]

Hot vapor will absolutely rise and an equipment failure could absolutely send hot alcohol vapor straight up, no doubt and if you've got the funds to install explosion proof lighting then there's no argument that it's the ideal situation. Under normal operational conditions, vapor will collect on the floor and so one could argue that when there are budgetary considerations the floor is where you may want to focus any explosion proofing efforts. Following on CCR's comment, we also installed a floor sweeping fan, inlet air comes in on one side of the distillery at floor level and we have an exhaust fan that draws from floor height and turns the volume of the distillery in roughly 1 min., per design of our Fire Safety Engineer.

[Skaalvenn]

Does anyone make some sort of alcohol vapor sensor where one could wire it to the control panel and shut off the still if vapor were detected?

[philf34]

http://www.sensorelectronics.com/ got a quote from these guys

Phil

[Silk City Distillers]

I don't have one, but meaning to buy one, the RKI PS-2 looks like a very reasonably priced solution for vapor detection and alarm.

[MisguidedCanuck]

On 11/20/2014 at 12:52 PM, Ned said:

Since ethanol vapor is heavier than air it's going want to settle near the floor so I wouldn't think xp lighting is necessary but that decision will fall to your local fire department not the lighting company so I'd recommend contacting them and you'd be bound by their decision assuming your town requires their inspection for change of use/occupancy and all that good stuff. At the very minimum I'd want shatter proof lighting over production and bottling areas.

With all due respect, it seems silly to leave this to local fire departments. If there is a national requirement on this, it should be followed, plain and simple. What does the U.S. National Fire Code say? 
Here in Canada it's left to provincial authorities, with many of our rules based on U.S. precedent. But most craft distilleries, due to their considerably smaller scale than commercial plants, can apply for reclassification from the automatic F1 (highest) fire classification distilleries have always received, to an F2, with support from a fire code consultant. The consultant charges about $10,000 for their report, which takes several months to acquire. But it can save considerably on construction costs, with fewer fire breaks and less, or no sprinkling required. Lightning? Never heard anything about this in Canada, but when I started wondering about it, Google lead me here.

[Southernhighlander]

4 hours ago, MisguidedCanuck said:

With all due respect, it seems silly to leave this to local fire departments. If there is a national requirement on this, it should be followed, plain and simple. What does the U.S. National Fire Code say? 
Here in Canada it's left to provincial authorities, with many of our rules based on U.S. precedent. But most craft distilleries, due to their considerably smaller scale than commercial plants, can apply for reclassification from the automatic F1 (highest) fire classification distilleries have always received, to an F2, with support from a fire code consultant. The consultant charges about $10,000 for their report, which takes several months to acquire. But it can save considerably on construction costs, with fewer fire breaks and less, or no sprinkling required. Lightning? Never heard anything about this in Canada, but when I started wondering about it, Google lead me here.

Here in the US, the local Fire Marshal is the fire and safety inspector for the distilleries in their area, so it is up to them. In my area the fire Marshal is the Chief of the local fire department but that is not always the case in other areas of the US. Ethanol vapor is heavier than air so it will settle towards the floor which is why the class 1 division 2 hazardous environment that exists around stills extends out to 12 ft away from any part of the still 18" and lower toward the floor and only 6' away from any part of the still  above 18" off the floor.  Some call it the sombrero of death because of the shape.  Since it is a class 1 division 2 hazardous environment around the still, non arcing electrical components do not have to be in explosion proof electrical enclosures (they can be in NEMA4 wash down enclosures).  Arcing electrical components must be in enclosure that meet the UL c1 d1 standard.   Until a little while back, Canada had similar rules as the US concerning the classified area around stills. Now Canada has gone to a zone system much like Europe.  I sell stills and other distilling equipment. I have over 450 stills in distilleries in the US and 20 or so in Canada.  My stills for distilleries range in size from 45 gallons to 2,500 gallons.   Many of my smaller stills have electric heating systems and most of my stills have electric mixers/agitators.  My electrical systems are built specifically for the C1 D2 environment.  My agitator motors are for c1d1 because I ago above and beyond.  All of my stills have passed their fire and safety inspections in the US and Canada.  I suggest that all lighting be in c1d1 rated enclosures inside the c1d2.  If outside the c1d2 then it is up to the distillery owner.

   C1d1 is for areas where ethanol vapor is present under normal operating conditions.  C1d2 is for areas where ethanol vapor is only present under abnormal operating conditions.  Along with our specification sheets for our equipment, we supply a fire safety drawing which shows the classified area around stills and which has the code numbers imbedded in the drawing. This is helpful to fire marshals in finding the specific codes that apply to distilleries in their code books.   I have not sold any stills to Canadian distilleries since they have gone to the new standards, so I would have to do careful research to see if I would be willing to sell one of my electric stills to a Canadian distillery.  As far as my steam fired stills and mash tuns going to Canada, that would be no problem as the only electrical component on those that would be inside the classified zone is my agitator motors which are good for the US and Canada.  Also there are currently 9 states in the US where home distilling is legal.  It has been legal in my state of MO since 2009.  A Missouri citizen can distill up to 200 gallons a year for personal use, however it is still illegal under federal law.

    Phone 417-270-0930  Email paul@distillery-equipment.com  We sell mash tuns, fermenters, steam boilers, chillers, blending tanks with explosion proof agitators motors, receiving tanks, barrel dumps, explosion proof ethanol pumps, mash pumps that have explosion proof motors, CIP pumps with explosion proof motors, stills, vacuum stills, lab distilling equipment, barrel dumps and vacuum ovens as well as a huge number of sanitary parts and components .  We are Affordable Distillery Equipment LLC and my name is Paul Hall. http://distillery-equipment.com

 

[TwentySevenBrewing]

On 8/27/2024 at 9:26 PM, Southernhighlander said:

Here in the US, the local Fire Marshal is the fire and safety inspector for the distilleries in their area, so it is up to them. In my area the fire Marshal is the Chief of the local fire department but that is not always the case in other areas of the US. Ethanol vapor is heavier than air so it will settle towards the floor which is why the class 1 division 2 hazardous environment that exists around stills extends out to 12 ft away from any part of the still 18" and lower toward the floor and only 6' away from any part of the still  above 18" off the floor.  Some call it the sombrero of death because of the shape.  Since it is a class 1 division 2 hazardous environment around the still, non arcing electrical components do not have to be in explosion proof electrical enclosures (they can be in NEMA4 wash down enclosures).  Arcing electrical components must be in enclosure that meet the UL c1 d1 standard.   Until a little while back, Canada had similar rules as the US concerning the classified area around stills. Now Canada has gone to a zone system much like Europe.  I sell stills and other distilling equipment. I have over 450 stills in distilleries in the US and 20 or so in Canada.  My stills for distilleries range in size from 45 gallons to 2,500 gallons.   Many of my smaller stills have electric heating systems and most of my stills have electric mixers/agitators.  My electrical systems are built specifically for the C1 D2 environment.  My agitator motors are for c1d1 because I ago above and beyond.  All of my stills have passed their fire and safety inspections in the US and Canada.  I suggest that all lighting be in c1d1 rated enclosures inside the c1d2.  If outside the c1d2 then it is up to the distillery owner.

   C1d1 is for areas where ethanol vapor is present under normal operating conditions.  C1d2 is for areas where ethanol vapor is only present under abnormal operating conditions.  Along with our specification sheets for our equipment, we supply a fire safety drawing which shows the classified area around stills and which has the code numbers imbedded in the drawing. This is helpful to fire marshals in finding the specific codes that apply to distilleries in their code books.   I have not sold any stills to Canadian distilleries since they have gone to the new standards, so I would have to do careful research to see if I would be willing to sell one of my electric stills to a Canadian distillery.  As far as my steam fired stills and mash tuns going to Canada, that would be no problem as the only electrical component on those that would be inside the classified zone is my agitator motors which are good for the US and Canada.  Also there are currently 9 states in the US where home distilling is legal.  It has been legal in my state of MO since 2009.  A Missouri citizen can distill up to 200 gallons a year for personal use, however it is still illegal under federal law.

    Phone 417-270-0930  Email paul@distillery-equipment.com  We sell mash tuns, fermenters, steam boilers, chillers, blending tanks with explosion proof agitators motors, receiving tanks, barrel dumps, explosion proof ethanol pumps, mash pumps that have explosion proof motors, CIP pumps with explosion proof motors, stills, vacuum stills, lab distilling equipment, barrel dumps and vacuum ovens as well as a huge number of sanitary parts and components .  We are Affordable Distillery Equipment LLC and my name is Paul Hall. http://distillery-equipment.com

 

Paul, I was taught that the hazardous area extended out 25 feet from the still and 3 feet from the floor, have those specs changed?

 

 
 

[Southernhighlander]

2 hours ago, TwentySevenBrewing said:

Paul, I was taught that the hazardous area extended out 25 feet from the still and 3 feet from the floor, have those specs changed?

 

 

 
 

Here is the HAZLOC drawing that we give all of our customers who purchase stills for distilleries.  The drawing is done according to our interpretation of the codes. The appropriate codes are imbedded in the drawing.  We have used this drawing for many years and have sent it out to hundreds of customers, many of which have handed it to their inspectors and we have never received any push back.  Below the drawing are references with links

NFPA 497: Recommended Practice for the Classification of Flammable Liquids, Gases, or Vapors and of Hazardous (Classified) Locations for Electrical Installations in Chemical Process Areas

https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=497

 

NFPA 70: National Electrical Code

https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=70

 

For storage of ethanol (not in wooden casks or barrels) you may wish to reference NFPA 30: Flammable an Combustible Liquids code

https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=30