Tech Feature: Durabook on ATEX Certification

Why ATEX Certification is Key for Safely Using Tablets in Explosive Environments

(By Sasha Wang, president of Durabook Americas, Inc., the business division that specifically and exclusively serves the commercial sector of North America. Wang has nearly 20 years of experience in the rugged computer industry and previously served as Durabook's director of global sales and marketing.)

What do oil/gas refineries, cement plants, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and flour mills have in common? They're all workplaces where something as simple as static electricity can ignite gases, vapors, dust, and other airborne substances into a deadly fireball.

To mitigate that risk, those companies and the contractors that serve them are increasingly providing employees with mobile PC products specifically designed to eliminate common electrical ignition sources such as stray currents, static, and mechanically generated sparks.The European Union's ATmosphères EXplosibles (ATEX) certification program makes it easy for companies to identify tablets meeting those stringent safety requirements.

EU countries require businesses to use ATEX-certified devices in environments where there's a significant risk of explosion. But ATEX certification is equally important for businesses based in North America and other regions that have facilities or clients in EU member countries. For CIOs, IT managers, and other people who select their organization's mobile computing devices, ATEX certification is a convenient way to identify vendors who are serious about workplace safety.

Why ATEX Certification is Important

To understand how the ATEX certification process works and the safety benefits for businesses, consider the experience of Durabook, whose R8-EX and U11-EX rugged Windows 11 tablets received ATEX Zone 2/22 certification in early 2024. This type of ATEX certification means the tablets can be safely used in environments where potential ignition sources include stray currents, static electricity, and mechanically generated sparks. Examples include:

In the field, such as agriculture, oil and gas.
Refineries and other plants that process natural resources, including oil, gas and chemicals.
Factories with potentially explosive atmospheres, such as food processing, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.
Mines, where explosive atmospheres containing hazardous gases may be present.
Laboratories, where researchers spend their workday around chemicals, gases and materials such as fine, combustible powder.

For more than a decade, Durabook has offered ruggedized mobile PC products with the North American ANSI/UL certification for safe use in hazardous environments. Durabook decided to seek ATEX certification after a growing number of customers asked for products that they could use in hazardous environments to ensure compliance in Europe.

In mid-2023, Durabook submitted multiple R8-EX and U11-EX units to one of the independent labs authorized to perform certification testing under ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU. Many R8-EX and U11-EX design features originally intended to maximize device durability, battery life, and user productivity wound up being key for passing certification.

One example is Coolfinity™, which cools tablets without the use of fans. That passive design maximizes battery life by reducing power consumption while eliminating moving parts that can eventually wear out. With no fan blade and motor that could create mechanically generated sparks and stray currents, Coolfinity was ideal for meeting ATEX certification. Coolfinity fanless thermal design lets the fully rugged tablets operate quietly while offering greater reliability and decreased downtime and repairs that negatively impact productivity as well as providing field service professionals, operating in hazardous environments, an extra level of safety.

The U11-EX has a battery life of up to 10 hours, with an optional high-capacity battery that lasts up to 20 hours. The R8-EX is 8.5 hours and up to 17 with an optional high-capacity battery. Long battery life helps avoid explosions because users don't need to charge them during their workday, thus avoid the risk of sparks during the process of plugging and unplugging a charger from the wall outlet. For additional protection, both tablets have ATEX-required brackets that prevent charging in the field. These ensure that charging can occur only in safe areas outside ATEX Zone 2/22.

Other design features that help reduce risk in hazardous environments are:

The 12th Gen Intel Core-I processor, which consumes less power than its predecessor (9W vs. 15W of 10th Gen CPU). Lower power consumption effectively reduces thermal generation, resulting in safer applications in an ATEX environment — and while offering better performance than its predecessor.
Non-conductive coatings to the system mainboard further insulate the PCB circuitry and IC components from an external environment. This reduces the chances of possible ignition sources due to board short-circuiting or arcing.
All-inclusive and covered I/O ports. The fully enclosed leather casing with integrated metal I/O brackets eliminates possibilities of internal/external component contacts and electrical conductivity as a source of ignition.

These features were major reasons why both models passed testing on their first attempt. Since then, customer inquiries about ATEX-certified products have continued to increase, particularly from companies in the petrochemical refinery and mining industries.

Working within these hazardous environments requires vigilant explosion protection in many industries where explosive atmospheres may be present. ATEX certified tablets help professionals stay focused and safe while doing their job.

To learn more about Zone 2/22 and the rest of the ATEX certification program, visit https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/mechanical-engineering/equipment-potentially-explosive-atmospheres-atex_en. To contact Durabook about their ATEX-certified models, contact sales@durabook.com or www.durabook.com.