arpadveress § 236 Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU (PED) and Simple Pressure Vessels Directive 2014/29/EU (SPVD)
The Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU (PED) is a single market directive similar to Directive 2014/34/EU. Relatively few items of pressure equipment have their own source of ignition. There are a small number of examples of safety accessories which may be autonomous protective systems or, possibly, equipment. Flame arresters have been judged to be pressure accessories in the sense of the PED. There are no additional requirements for the flame arrester element under the PED. PED specifically excludes from its own scope equipment classified no higher than Category I under Article 13 of PED but inside the scope of ATEX.
The Pressure Equipment Directive deals only with the pressure hazard and does not consider the prevention of and protection against explosions/inflammations, which are not triggered by pressure. In most cases it is presumed that PED equipment does not have an own ignition source when it is properly installed according to the instructions of the manufacturer (including information about maintenance and repair of the connecting devices, e.g. valves, flanges). If PED equipment shows hot surfaces occurring during operation caused by the temperature of its content solely, it is not applicable to consider this equipment under the ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU. Risk assessment related to hot surfaces and electrostatic charges, among other possible risks, shall be undertaken by the end user to ensure that any explosive atmosphere is not ignited.
The Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68/EU, replacing the previous Directive 97/23/EC, is applicable from 19 July 2016.
On the other hand, the Simple Pressure Vessel Directive 2014/29/EU (SPVD) applies to a limited range of equipment for holding air or nitrogen under pressure. ATEX equipment may incorporate a simple pressure vessel in an assembly, but it is considered that there are relatively few occasions when both Directives will apply to the same product.
The Simple Pressure Vessels Directive 2014/29/EU, replacing the previous Directive 2009/105/EC, is applicable from 20 April 2016.
