ABB Certifies a Dust Monitor for Zone 22
The PFM 20 Ex measures particulate down to 7.5 mg/m3 in an ATEX Zone 22 housing, which is the classification that covers the places combustible dust actually accumulates.
ABB launched the PFM 20 Ex on 16 September, a particulate monitor certified for ATEX Zone 22 and rated for harsh industrial environments, with low-range measurement down to 7.5 mg/m3.
Jean-René Roy, global business line manager at ABB Measurement & Analytics, called it an important product launch in its own right, giving customers high-sensitivity dust monitoring for hazardous environments. It is supported by ABB's My Measurement Assistant+ digital tool.
The certification is the story. Zone 22 covers areas where a combustible dust cloud is unlikely in normal operation but may occur briefly — which describes a great deal of grain handling, wood processing, pharmaceutical drying and battery-materials production. Most particulate monitors are not certified for it, and the practical consequence is that operators fall back on periodic sampling in exactly the areas where a dust explosion is the hazard being managed. Continuous measurement and continuous compliance evidence are not the same as a sample taken once a quarter.
The instrument completes a range that already includes the ACF5000 and MCA 10 continuous emissions monitoring systems, the PFM 20, PFM 13 and OPM 19 ED particulate analysers, the FMD 09 gas flow analyser and portable flame ionisation detectors.
The portfolio expansion follows ABB's 2024 acquisition of the Födisch Group, a German measurement and analytical instrument manufacturer — which is where most of this range came from, and a reminder that emissions monitoring has been consolidating quietly while attention went elsewhere.