Eaton develops clamping enclosure design for oil, gas; industrial operations

SYRACUSE -- Power management company Eaton announced that it has developed the first clamping enclosure technology for hazardous areas to help oil and gas and other industrial customers enhance safety and improve productivity.

Eaton’s Crouse-Hindsseries EBMX enclosure technology is for traditional explosion-proof enclosures. The technology is also the first National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 7 classified enclosure to use clamping technology.

The Eaton clamped enclosures are designed to automatically apply even pressure across the flame path between the cover and body. This design enhances safety by reducing installation errors due to missing or improperly torqued bolts. The EBMX technology is designed for explosion-proof enclosures operating in harsh and hazardous locations.

“With our new clamped enclosure technology, customers can enhance safety by reducing the risk of installation errors," said Craig Atwater, senior vice president and general manager, Americas, Eaton’s Crouse-Hinds Division. “Without compromising personnel or equipment protection, the EBMX enclosures also enable customers to open and close enclosures 97% faster than traditional bolted solutions, increasing speed for installation, maintenance and troubleshooting. The EBMX enclosure is part of Eaton’s portfolio of electrical solutions for harsh and hazardous environments that help enhance safety and reduce risk by design."

The EBMX enclosure is designed for motor control devices, including starters, combination starters, disconnect switches and circuit breakers. Eaton’s enclosure is rated for 65,000 ampere interrupting capacity (KAIC) at 480 volts and meets Underwriters Laboratories® (UL) 1203 standard for explosion-proof and dustproof equipment for use in hazardous locations. The equipment also meets National Electrical Code® (NEC) and Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) requirements and is built to withstand extreme temperatures from -50 to 60 °C.