Tunnel boring machines - Air locks - Part 2: Safety requirements for the use of non-air breathing mixtures and saturation techniques in personnel locks and for pressurized transfer shuttles
This document sets out requirements for personnel locks which are intended to have the capability for mixed gas breathing techniques or saturation techniques at pressures not exceeding 2 000 kPa (20 bar) and associated with tunnelling work. These are in addition to the requirements of FprEN 12110-1:2026. The intended use of the air lock is agreed between the manufacturer and the user taking into account information on intended use, exposure techniques and decompression procedures provided by the user.
This document includes the external services connection panel as defined in 3.6 on the protective frame and everything downstream of that panel.
This document is not applicable to air locks and equipment which are manufactured before the date of publication of this document by CEN.
NOTE This document can help the design of air locks and bulkheads in other compressed air work in construction.
This document deals with all significant hazards, hazardous situations and events relevant to air locks when they are used as intended and under conditions of misuse which are reasonably foreseeable by the manufacturer (see Annex A).
This document does not cover the supply of services to the air lock from beyond the defined FprEN 12110-1:2026/FprEN 16191:2026 interface.
Noise hazards are covered in FprEN 12110-1:2026.
Vibration and EMC (Electromagnetic compatibility) hazards are not significant hazards for air locks and hence are not dealt with in this standard.
Mixed gas, air or oxygen is provided by the user.
The following topics are within the scope of this standard:
- the fire suppression system for the shuttle;
- the power supply to the shuttle;
- connections for a climate control system and gas supply to the shuttle.
The SI unit of pressure is the pascal (Pa) and multiples of it. The unit of pressure used in this document is the kilopascal (kPa), however as the unit of pressure used in the hyperbaric tunnelling industry is the bar and 1 bar = 100 kPa, all pressures are given in kPa with the equivalent in bar alongside in kPa (bar).
Related directives
NOTE: If the word "harmonized" (marked in green) is not found in the field with the name of the directive, it means that the European standard is not cited in the OJEU.
2006/42/EC
Directive 2006/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC (recast)
