Building Four Bespoke ATEX Fans Destined for Offshore Brazil

We recently received a brief requesting four custom, explosion-proof fans to be used on an offshore oil and gas application in Brazil. Our Applied Technology engineers are skilled at building bespoke fans that meet even the most demanding specifications.

Needing to follow the customer and end-user’s pre-defined specification, in addition to a small installation footprint, our engineers built the four bespoke fans at our Fareham-based factory. When building the 1,120mm diameter, stainless-steel long cased axial units, we knew durability was a top priority. We made sure they could withstand the harsh offshore salt-laden environment by using marine-grade aluminium impellers, stainless-steel 316L casings, terminal boxes and ancillaries.

Along with being durable, a key requirement was making sure the fans were explosion-proof and complied with the customer’s design requirements, in addition to offshore and Brazilian safety regulations. As such, the fans were built with C5M-painted Zone 1 ATEX motors, BFOU cabling, and stainless-steel glands. To comply with the Brazilian standard NR-37, motor cowls, access doors, and internal terminal boxes were painted to colour RAL 2008.

For the end-user’s monitoring requirements, the fan models came equipped with Shock Pulse Monitoring (SPM) sensors and a cable transit system to wire the coaxial cable to an externally fan mounted terminal box. Accounting for vibration during installation, the fan mounting plate was paired with anti-vibration mounts.

Leading on the project, Lewis Brand, Technical & Project Sales Engineer at Elta, said:

“Working on applied technology projects means working through customer specifications to ensure we’re designing the best fan for their application, and working with customers throughout a project is something we pride ourselves on at Elta. This project really showcases our engineering capability; four unique fans that we have manufactured to the highest quality and will stand the test of time.”

Find out more about our Applied Technology division and ATEX fans!

Do you have bespoke project requirements? Contact us today.