Within the European Community, intrinsically safe pressure sensors may only be used in hazardous areas if they are installed in conjunction with an Ex barrier. The combination of pressure sensor and Ex barrier must meet up with the ?Proof of intrinsic safety? relative to the 94/9/EC ATEX directive. Not absolutely all combinations of sensor and barrier from different manufacturers fulfil this condition.
On the main one hand, it might be that the safety or Ex characteristic values do not match, however, the functional characteristics must also match the application. So, even if the safety-related data match, the pair of Ex barrier and pressure sensor may not match since, for example, both components work ?passively?.
( Bloodbath on the subject ?active?/?passive? are available in your blog article ?Electrical circuitry for pressure sensors: when is really a sensor active, so when passive??)
Therefore, factors to consider that you merely use barriers and sensors together whose safety-related data and function-related data match each other. We therefore directly recommend, in our intrinsically safe pressure sensors? data sheets, a potentially compatible intrinsically safe Ex barrier.
If you have any further questions, our sales department will gladly offer you a detailed application consultation.