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Author: Veress Árpád · Explosion-protection expertDAILY Ex - 1 OCTOBER 2026
Today’s lead is a serious refinery event from yesterday: a high-pressure separator ruptured at MRPL in India, killing a contract worker. Also today: the IND EX Explosion Safety Forum at POWTECH, harvest-season dust risk, the latest ATEX harmonized-standards baseline, and a useful Operational Ex case around replacement equipment.
⚡ DAILY Ex - 1 OCTOBER 2026
Explosion Protection | Operational Ex | Global Watch
Today’s lead is a serious refinery event from yesterday: a high-pressure separator ruptured at MRPL in India, killing a contract worker. Also today: the IND EX Explosion Safety Forum at POWTECH, harvest-season dust risk, the latest ATEX harmonized-standards baseline, and a useful Operational Ex case around replacement equipment.
▶️ KEY INCIDENT - HIGH-PRESSURE SEPARATOR RUPTURES AT REFINERY
CURRENT | India - 30 September
A serious explosion and fire occurred yesterday at Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited in Mangaluru.
According to MRPL's initial information, a high-pressure cold separator ruptured in the Coker Hydrotreater Unit. Local officials reported the vessel was operating at around 70 bar. One contract worker was killed and nine people were reported injured in the latest accounts; one suffered significant burns.
The blast was powerful enough to be heard kilometres away and reportedly rattled windows around Mangaluru International Airport. The affected unit's battery limits were isolated, the unit evacuated and the subsequent fire brought under control.
The cause of the separator rupture remains under investigation. We should not turn the consequence into an assumed root cause.
Why it matters operationally: Ex management often concentrates on ignition sources.
Yesterday's event reminds us of the barrier before ignition control: mechanical integrity → containment.
For high-pressure flammable service, ask: What evidence tells us this vessel is fit to contain tomorrow's operating conditions?
Inspection history → corrosion mechanisms → process excursions → relief protection → alarms/trips → previous repairs → remaining life.
A certified Ex motor cannot compensate for failed process containment.
▶️ COMBUSTIBLE DUST - HARVEST SEASON CHANGES THE RISK
CURRENT | USA - 30 September
A timely industry warning published yesterday focuses on increased combustible-dust risk during harvest, when grain facilities face higher material movement, longer operating hours and greater pressure on housekeeping and maintenance. Seven agricultural dust explosions were recorded in the US during 2025; although fewer than the previous year, consequences were more severe.
https://www.grainjournal.com/article/1157694/when-harvest-raises-the-risk
Why it matters operationally: Hazard does not remain constant just because the equipment remains unchanged.
Higher throughput can mean: more releases → faster dust accumulation → overloaded extraction → longer equipment runtime → deferred cleaning.
Your HAC drawing may remain unchanged while the actual operating risk changes considerably.
https://www.grainjournal.com/article/1157694/when-harvest-raises-the-risk
▶️ ATEX - KNOW THE CURRENT HARMONIZED-STANDARDS BASELINE
CURRENT REGULATORY BASELINE | EU
The European Commission ATEX harmonised-standards page now incorporates the 3 September 2026 amendment to Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/1668, following earlier amendments in January and May this year.
This is worth checking because a newly published IEC or EN standard does not automatically mean that it immediately provides presumption of conformity under ATEX.
Three questions should therefore remain separate: What is the latest technical standard? What edition is harmonised? What edition actually governs this equipment/project?
That distinction matters to manufacturers, notified bodies, EPCs and operators reviewing supplier documentation.
▶️ TODAY - EXPLOSION SAFETY FORUM AT POWTECH
CURRENT EVENT | Germany - 1 October
Today is the final day of POWTECH TECHNOPHARM 2026 in Nuremberg.
The IND EX Explosion Safety Forum runs this morning from 09:30–12:30 under the theme Connecting Experts in Explosion Safety. powtec
Live dust-explosion demonstrations also continue today, showing both the explosion itself and protective systems operating on representative production equipment.
https://www.powtech-technopharm.com/en/events-programme/meeting-points/live-explosion
Why it matters operationally: Explosion protection is easier to misunderstand on a P&ID.
In reality: detection → propagation → isolation → suppression/venting can happen in milliseconds.
This is why explosion-protection devices need inspection and maintenance even though they may sit apparently inactive for years.
https://www.powtech-technopharm.com/en/events-programme/forums/explosion-safety-forum
▶️ STANDARDS WATCH - DON'T CONFUSE IEC PUBLICATION WITH ATEX HARMONIZATION
CURRENT 2026 LANDSCAPE
The IEC 60079 family has changed substantially this year. The current IEC series includes IEC 60079-0:2026, IEC 60079-10-2:2026, IEC 60079-14:2024 and IEC 60079-17:2023, alongside several other recently revised parts.
https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/62417
IEC 60079-0 Edition 8, for example, was published on 16 June 2026. https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/71519
But this reinforces today's ATEX point: IEC publication ≠ EN adoption ≠ ATEX harmonization.
For Operations this mainly matters when purchasing replacements or modifications.
Don't write simply: “latest IEC 60079 required.”
Define the technical and regulatory baseline applicable to the project.
https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/62417
▶️ TECHNOLOGY / RESEARCH - BESS EXPLOSION SAFETY MOVES INTO ENGINEERING DESIGN
CURRENT INDUSTRY FOCUS | 30 September
A new industry profile published yesterday highlights work on fire and explosion safety for large battery-energy-storage systems, including large-scale testing and development against evolving standards.
BESS is not simply a “battery fire” problem.
Thermal runaway can produce a flammable off-gas mixture, which creates questions around: detection → ventilation → accumulation → ignition → deflagration pressure → emergency response.
For Ex professionals, there is an increasingly useful crossover between conventional gas explosion engineering and battery safety.
▶️ OPERATIONAL Ex USE CASE - “LIKE-FOR-LIKE” REPLACEMENT
PRACTICAL |
A failed Ex motor is replaced.
Same kW. Same voltage. Same frame size. Same protection concept.
Maintenance records: LIKE FOR LIKE.
But check: temperature class // EPL/category // gas/dust group // ambient range // certificate conditions // starting characteristics // thermal protection // cable-entry arrangement // manufacturer instructions.
If one differs, the replacement may not actually be equivalent.
The useful question is therefore: “Like-for-like against which Ex parameters?”
Not: “Does it fit?”
▶️ GOOD ENGINEERING PRACTICE - START WITH CONTAINMENT
- reinforced by yesterday's MRPL event
During today's plant walk, choose one vessel or pipe containing flammable material.
Don't begin with the Ex equipment around it.
Begin with: corrosion → erosion → flange condition → seals → supports → vibration → inspection status → temporary repair → process excursions.
Then ask: What could create the hazardous atmosphere here?
Only after that ask: What could ignite it?
That sequence matters.
IEC 60079 protects us extremely well against ignition.
But the strongest explosion-prevention measure is often: don't release the fuel.
▶️ TODAY'S Ex QUESTION
Find one piece of high-pressure flammable process equipment.
Ask Operations: “What is our current evidence that containment is healthy?”
Not: It hasn't leaked.
Not: It passed inspection three years ago.
But: What degradation mechanism are we managing, what is its current condition, and when do we inspect again?
Yesterday's MRPL incident is still under investigation.
But regardless of what investigators ultimately find, the Operational Ex lesson is already useful:
Hazardous-area management begins before the hazardous atmosphere exists.
Daily Ex
Ex equipment controls ignition.
Operational Ex must also protect the conditions that prevent the explosive atmosphere from being created in the first place.