prEN 12110-2

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 pressurised transfer shuttles

Publication date:   Feb 9, 2023

Scope

This document sets out additional requirements to those in prEN 12110-1 for personnel locks which are intended to have the capability for mixed gas breathing techniques or saturation techniques at pressures not exceeding 20 bar(g) and associated with tunnelling work. This document also sets out requirements for pressurized transfer shuttles as defined in 3.1.
prEN 12110-1 applies to the design, construction, equipping, marking and testing of air locks, as defined in 3.3, in tunnelling. prEN 12110-1 also covers requirements for manlocks utilizing compressed air as the pressurizing and breathing medium along with requirements for oxygen breathing systems for decompression purposes.
Air locks are normally an integral part of TBMs. Hence there are interfaces between the scope of prEN 12110-1:2023 and prEN 16191:2022. These are detailed in Clause 4 of this document.
The intended use of the machinery 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 is not applicable to machinery and equipment which is 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 such machinery 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 prEN 12110 1:2023/prEN 16191:2022 interface. This interface is set out in the text.
Vibration, noise and EMC (Electromagnetic compatibility) hazards are not significant hazards for air locks.
The provision of mixed gas, air or oxygen is the responsibility of the user.
During transfer under pressure operations, the shuttle requires a fire suppression system, a climate control system, a power supply and a gas supply. Of these, the fire suppression system requires to be continuously connected and available for immediate activation. It is therefore considered to be part of the shuttle equipment covered by this standard as is the power supply. For the other two services only the capability to supply them is considered to be part of the shuttle requirements.

Related legislation

Legislation related to this standard