Since 1989 CECOF has been intensively dealing with the harmonisation of national rules, regulations and standards in Europe concerning the safety of industrial furnaces and heating equipment.

The standards for industrial furnaces and heating equipment are jointly elaborated by the representatives of the relevant mechanical engineering companies, the national supervisory boards as well as the equipment users. Most of the TC experts are working for CECOF member companies and they are aiming to ensure that their interests are taken into account in the process of safety standardisation.

Another reason for the elementary interest of CECOF in standardisation issues is that the harmonisation of the legislative directives for thermoprocessing equipment might lead to a removal of trade barriers within the European community.

CECOF has therefore entered into a liaison with CEN/TC 186 under its chairman Mike Debier, who is also the CECOF President. The CEN/TC 186 secretariat is held by DIN and its secretary is Beneke who is a staff member of VDMA.

CEN/TC 186 is authorised by the European Committee for Standardisation CEN and thus has a mandate to elaborate standards for the safety requirements to industrial heating equipment. For details about contents and status please refer to the following paragraphs.

NOTE: Harmonisation of European Standards in the field of Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment - All harmonised standards have to be revised according to the new Machinery Directive 2006/42/EG!

EN 746 Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment

Part 1 - Common Safety Requirements for Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment

This part was ratified as a European Standard by CEN on February 15^th, 1997 and was listed as such in the Official Journal of the European Community No. 1997/C 169/4 on June 4^th,1997.

Status: According to CEN regulations, the part was subject to revision after a 5-years period. Several editorial modifications were agreed upon in a meeting of working group 1 of CEN/TC 186 which is responsible for the revision of this part.

After completion of part 2, the revision of part 1 will be initiated immediately in order to implement the relevant statements with regard to the explosion directive and - if necessary - with regard to control systems.

Mr. Anders Jerregard from the Swedish member association SHTE was appointed as the new convenor for part 1 (September 2007).

EN 746 Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment

Part 2 - Safety Requirements for Combustion and Fuel Handling Systems

This part was ratified as a European Standard by CEN on February 15^th, 1997 and was listed as such in the Official Journal of the European Community No. 1997/C 169/4 on June 4^th,1997.

Status: For the time being, part 2 is revised by working group 2 of CEN/TC 186 under its convenor Mr. Mike Debier from Belgium and is available as prEN 746-2 version meanwhile. The public inquiry to the national standards institutes of the CEN members was positive without any dissenting votes. The comments received about the prEN version will be negotiated in January 2007, i.e. the standard is expected to be passed for approval during the course of the year 2007.

The revisions made should help to solve some ambiguities in the text, implement the state-of-the-art technology (electronic control, O₂ etc.) and adapt the part to more recent directives (ATEX). Further information with regard to this topic can be found under Technical Issues/General.

EN 746 Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment

Part 3 - Safety Requirements for the Generation and Use of Atmosphere Gases

This part was ratified as a European Standard by CEN on February 15^th, 1997 and was listed as such in the Official Journal of the European Community No. 1997/C 169/4 on June 4^th,1997.

Status: According to CEN regulations, the part was subject to revision after a 5-years period. For the time being, part 3 is revised by working group 3 of CEN/TC 186 under its convenor Mr. Helmut Egger from Germany (company: Wolfgang Kohnle Waermebehandlungsanlagen GmbH). In a meeting of the working group several editorial modifications were agreed upon. After completion of part 2, the revision of part 3 will be initiated immediately in order to implement the relevant statements with regard to the explosion directive and - if necessary - with regard to control systems.

EN 746 Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment

Part 4 - Particular Safety Requirements for Hot Dip Galvanising Thermoprocessing Equipment

This part was ratified as a European Standard by CEN on November 22^nd,1999 and was listed as such in the Official Journal of the European Communities No. 2000/C167/04 on June 16^th, 2000.

Status: For the time being, part 4 is revised by working group 4 of CEN/TC 186 under its convenor Mr. Bob Drywood from Great Britain (BSI Standardisation Institute) according to the modifications obtained by the European General Galvanizers Association (EGGA). An amendment was agreed upon in a meeting of the Working Group.

EN 746 Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment

Part 5 - Particular Safety Requirements for Salt Bath Thermoprocessing Equipment

This part was ratified as a European Standards by CEN on September 20^th, 2000 and was listed as such in the Official Journal of the European Communities No. 2001/C 332/02 on November 27^th, 2001

Status: For the time being, part 5 is revised by working group 4 of CEN/TC 186 under its convenor Mr. Bob Drywood from Great Britain (BSI Standardisation Institute).

EN 746 Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment

Part 6 - Particular Safety Requirements for Liquid Phase Treatment Thermoprocessing Equipment

Status: : For the time being, part 6 is revised by working group 4 of CEN/TC 186 under its convenor Mr. Bob Drywood from Great Britain (BSI Standardisation Institute). The working group has implemented fundamental requirements of the CEN Consultant. After completion of part 2, the elaboration of part 6 will be initiated immediately in order to implement the relevant statements with regard to the explosion directive and - if necessary - with regard to control systems.

EN 746 Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment

Part 7 - Particular Safety Requirements for Vacuum Thermoprocessing Equipment

Status: For the time being, part 7 is revised by working group 4 of CEN/TC 186 under its convenor Mr. Bob Drywood from Great Britain (BSI Standardisation Institute) and the working group has implemented fundamental requirements of the CEN Consultant. After completion of part 2, the elaboration of part 7 will be initiated immediately in order to implement the relevant statements with regard to the explosion directive and - if necessary - with regard to control systems.

EN 746 Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment

Part 8 - Particular Safety Requirements for Quenching Equipment

This part was ratified as European Standards by CEN on November 22^sd, 1999 and was listed as such in the Official Journal of the European Communities No. 2001/C 332/02 on November 27^th, 2001.

For the time being, part 8 is revised by working group 4 of CEN/TC 186 under its convenor Mr. Bob Drywood from Great Britain (BSI Standardisation Institute).

EN 1547 Noise Test Code for Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment

This part was ratified as European Standard by CEN on January 1^st, 2000 and was listed as such in the Official Journal of the European Communities No. 2002/C 141/05 on June 14^th, 2002.

For the time being, this part is revised by working group 5 of CEN/TC 186 under its convenor Mr. Mike Debier from Belgium.

ATEX

Please find here some explanations concerning the applicability of the ATEX Directive to the thermoprocessing industry.

Thermoprocessing equipment is not intended for the use in explosive atmospheres and is thus not subject to the requirements of the EU directive 94/9/EG. However, such equipment has to fulfill the safety requirements of the EU directive 98/37/EG (machinery directive).

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IHEA-CECOF Interpretive Guide

This document was elaborated by the CEN/TC 186 Chairman Mike Debier in 2003 and is intended to compare the U.S. standard NFPA 86:1999 with the European standard EN 746 Part 2:1997. N.B.: both standards are under revision for the time being, i.e. the document does not take into consideration the latest status of discussions.

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Acceptance and ordering of thermoprocessing equipment for the steel, iron and non-ferrous metals industries

The attached standard sheet was compiled by the thermoprocessing technology work group of the Thermoprocessing Association (TPT) within VDMA (the German Engineering Federation) as well as representatives of further education institutes, operators and manufacturers of industrial thermoprocessing equipment. CECOF thanks VDMA for having agreed to publish this information in English language on its website.

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VDMA standard sheets are exclusively available at Beuth Verlag GmbH,

D-10772 Berlin. Beuth Verlag, Berlin

CE-Marking

Manufacturers who intend to place Industrial Thermoprocessing Equipment (IThE) on the market of a EC-member state have to set up a risk assessment as well as a declaration of conformity according to the EC-machinery directive 98/37/EG(MD). By this procedure which is prescribed legally, the manufacturer guarantees that all relevant regulations for the safety of the IThE have been complied with and that he is authorised to mark the equipment with a CE-sign.

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