Safety First: Operating Your Vacuum Impregnation Machine API 3.0
Machinery safety guide for operating API 3.0
Introduction
This safety guide is crafted for purchasers and operators of our cutting-edge Vacuum Impregnation Machine API 3.0.
Utilizing butane as a solvent, this machine demands safety protocols due to the nature of butane.
Butane
Butane is highly flammable, colorless, and odorless gas. Because of this safety at working with butane is very important. Butane can be one of the safest fuels to work with when safety practices are used.
While this guide provides critical insights, it is important to complement it with the comprehensive A.P.I. 3.0 instruction manual and adhere to state and local regulations and the ATEX directive 2014/34/EU.
Closed Loop Concept of Vacuum Impregnation Machine
A.P.I. 3.0 operates on a closed-loop concept, »loop« indicating the system’s recovery and reuse of the solvent.
The solvent initiates the cycle within a vessel, flows through another with botanical material, and ultimately returns to the original vessel, forming a continuous “loop.”
While this system minimizes environmental impact, a slight butane release during normal operation emphasizes the need for strict safety adherence to prevent any potential accidents.
Summary of Safety Requirements
Work place requirements
- Fire extinguisher
- Ventilation. It is mandatory to ensure natural or mechaical ventilation. Ventilation must be done with explosion proof equipment, with regard to ensuring needed fresh air supply, placement of the inlet and outlet canales, releasing of the outlet flow in the environment. Fotka
- All the source of potential ignition must be located outside of hazard area. That should be located outside potential explosive atmosphere, placed from the ground to prevent exposing to butane. Butane is much heavier as air so in case of the presence it will be on the bottom.
- Butane detector alerts if there is a presence of butane gas. Butane is a colorless, and odorless gas. This makes is impossible to detect without butane detector.
Detector must be suitable for industrial use in explosion proof protection.
Depending on the installation the gas detector will alert about the presence of butane gas. Machine operator can then respond in time and accordingly to the safety measurements. - Protection against static electricity discharge. In case there is a static electricity discharge, this can cause a spark that can have sufficient energy to ignite the explosion atmosphere. To prevent static discharge all the equipment must be grounded including the flooring. Personal protection equipment like shoes and clothing should be anti.static.
- Working place where it could come to an explosive atmosphere has to be marked with EX mark.
In case of a presence of butane the operator will get visual and audio alarm when Exeat ventilation system is installed. Besides that the detector will trigger ventilator and in case of dangerous concentrations of gas all the electrical consumers will be disconeted. Leaving only ventilator work on 100%, full capcity.
Besides that, a presence of only authorized personnel should be ensured. They should not work with open fire, smoke or use tools that overheat or generate sparks.
Flammable chemicals and cleaning agents can be in working place only during cleaning and not while potential explosion atmosphere cold occur (e.g. operating the machine). After use the chemicals and agents must be removed from the hazard area and properly stored.
Operational requirements
Do not mix butane and air, mixing butane gas and air could lead to dangerous situation.
Prior to operating the machine, the air should be evacuated from tanks for butane gas.
And after the evacuation of air, it has to be ensured that the system is tightly sealed. Leakage test should be performed regularly.
According to the instruction manual it is mandatory to make regularly vacuum and over pressure leakage test of the system.
With vacuum and overpressure leakage test all the leaking spots can be detected.
While machine operating a leakage of the joints or seals can occur.
To minimize the possibility of leakage a totally tight systems should be ensured and tested. Besides overpressure leakage test, the accuracy of the manometers and safety valves is tested.
The leakage test will detect if the manometers and safety valves are malfunctioning (damaged or blocked).
It is prohibited to work with the equipment which is not fully functional.
Butane and other solvents
Do not use other solvent than butane or solvents that are not approved by the manufacturer.
Other solvents have different vapor pressure compared to butane. This could lead to the opening of safety pressure valves, damaging the pressure vessels or damaging the seals due to the chemical compatibility and incompatibility.
We have gathered some of the safety guides that ensure safe operation of our vacuum impregnation machine A.P.I 3.0.
As stressed at the beginning, to use our machine safely, instruction manual should be followed besides your state laws and the ATEX directive 2014/34/EU.
