IEC 60079

IEC 60079 is the international standard series for equipment used in explosive gas and dust atmospheres, defining the protection concepts (flameproof Ex d, increased safety Ex e, intrinsic safety Ex i, encapsulation Ex m, dust protection Ex t, and others), the zone system, gas groups, and temperature classes. National and regional frameworks adopt it nearly verbatim: EN IEC 60079 in Europe (underpinning ATEX), GB/T 3836 in China, and the IECEx scheme certifies directly against it for international acceptance. When a project specification says “IEC 60079 or equivalent,” the engineering question is whether the offered certificate demonstrates conformity to these same technical requirements — which aligned national certifications can.