Elmac Technologies, a leading global supplier of process-critical safety products such as Flame Arresters and tank protection equipment, has recently celebrated another milestone in its 80-year history.

In February 2020, we delivered our first 24” Unstable Detonation Flame Arrester, the biggest ATEX-certified flame arrester of its kind in the world.

The British-designed and manufactured In-line Flame Arrester (UCA Series) offers complete protection against deflagrations and both stable and unstable detonations. This new addition to the range exhibits exceptional flow capacity and features minimum pressure drop, short-time burning capability, and bi-directional protection.

This type of Flame Arrester is used in a number of applications, including vapour recovery and fuel & chemicals distribution by road, rail or sea tankers.

Flame propagation incidents, although uncommon, can happen spontaneously and have the potential to inflict horrific injuries to people and large-scale damage to equipment, property and the environment. Elmac’s in-line Unstable Detonation Flame arresters provide protection against worst-case explosion scenarios.

To prevent the build-up of vapour pressures or displacement when fuel enters a storage tank, the vapour recovery hose will lead to a recovery unit, where the vapour will be safely converted back into fuel with any harmless emissions being released to the atmosphere. Positioning Detonation Flame Arresters in the hoses and common fuel lines will help protect against dangerous explosions. The type of flame arrester required is legislated by the volatility of the vapour and Elmac’s UCA or UCB In-line Detonation Flame Arresters are ideally suited for most fuel handling and vapour recovery applications.

Elmac’s UCA Series of Unstable Detonation Flame Arresters are ATEX-certified for gases in Explosion Groups IIA1 and IIA, while the Elmac UCB Series Unstable Detonation Flame Arresters are ATEX-certified for gases in Explosion Groups IIB1, IIB2 & IIB3. All of Elmac’s flame arresters are manufactured in accordance with EN ISO 16852 and approved to ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU.

Lew Bingham, Managing Director, Elmac Technologies says: “We are extremely proud to launch the world’s largest Unstable Detonation Flame Arrester and the first to be ATEX-certified at this size. Operational requirements demand absolute reliability, minimal maintenance and, of course, the need to be cost-effective. That’s why Elmac’s products are routinely specified in vapour recovery systems and fuel handling applications”.