Definition(s)
Enclosure
A structure that may provide environmental protection for the machine.
Source: API RP 2D, Operation and Maintenance of Offshore Cranes, Sixth Edition, May 2007. Global Standards
Source: API RP 2D, Operation and Maintenance of Offshore Cranes, Seventh Edition, December 2014. Global Standards
Enclosure, electrical
The case or housing of electrical apparatus provided to prevent personnel from accidentally contacting energized parts, and/or to protect the equipment from physical damage and the environment. Also, certain enclosures serve to prevent electrical equipment from being a source of ignition of flammable mixtures outside the enclosure.
Source: API RP 14F, Design, Installation, and Maintenance of Electrical Systems for Fixed and Floating Offshore Petroleum Facilities for Unclassified and Class 1, Division 1 and Division 2 Locations, Fifth Edition, July 2008. Global Standards
Enclosure, explosion-proof
An enclosure that is capable of withstanding an explosion of a gas or vapor within it and of preventing the ignition of an explosive gas or vapor that may surround it, and that operates at such an external temperature that a surrounding explosive gas or vapor will not be ignited thereby.
Source: API RP 14F, Design, Installation, and Maintenance of Electrical Systems for Fixed and Floating Offshore Petroleum Facilities for Unclassified and Class 1, Division 1 and Division 2 Locations, Fifth Edition, July 2008. Global Standards
Enclosure, NEMA type
A United States (NEMA) system of rating standard levels of protection provided to electrical apparatus by enclosures for 1) the protection of persons against contact with live or moving parts inside the enclosure, 2) the protection provided by the enclosure against ingress of solids and/or liquids, 3) the protection provided by the enclosure against the deleterious effects of corrosion, and 4) the protection provided by the enclosure against damage to the formation of external ice. This enclosure type is in addition to (and not an alternative to) the types of protection necessary to ensure protection against ignition in hazardous (classified) locations, see Table 10.
Source: API RP 14F, Design, Installation, and Maintenance of Electrical Systems for Fixed and Floating Offshore Petroleum Facilities for Unclassified and Class 1, Division 1 and Division 2 Locations, Fifth Edition, July 2008. Global Standards
Enclosure, purged and pressurized
An enclosure supplied with clean air or an inert gas at sufficient flow and positive pressure to reduce to an acceptably safe level any flammable gas or vapor concentration initially present, and to maintain this safe level by positive pressure with or without continuous flow, see 4.3.5.
Source: API RP 14F, Design, Installation, and Maintenance of Electrical Systems for Fixed and Floating Offshore Petroleum Facilities for Unclassified and Class 1, Division 1 and Division 2 Locations, Fifth Edition, July 2008. Global Standards
Enclosure
All the walls which surround the live parts of electrical apparatus including doors, covers, cable entries, rods, spindles and shafts, ensuring the protection of the electrical apparatus.
Source: IEC 61892-7, Mobile and fixed offshore units – Electrical installations – Part 7: Hazardous areas. Global Standards