63
STATIC ELECTRICITY - FRIEND OR FOE
G A Pikington.
Chilworth TechnologvLtd., UK
INTRODUCTION
The need to use electrical equipment where flammable
atmospheres can be present is one potential cause of
fires and explosions in industry. Other sources of
ignition can also be present in such hazardous areas and
these also need to be considered when considering the
safe operation of a process plant.
One such ignition source is static electricity.
It is often thought that static electricity is only produced
by witches, wizards and physics lecturers but in fact it
is commonplace in everyday life and it is probable that
all who are reading this paper have had some experience
of it. Examples include shocks when leaving a car or
when touching a hotel door handle, crackling when
removing a pullover, clinging of clothes when they are
removed from a tumble dryer, crackling on a record
player and so on. An extreme example of static
electricity is lightning.
The above events are mainly a nuisance, however once
the effects of static electricity are controlled then it can
have many practical uses. It puts the 'cling' into cling-
film, it causes the ink to stick to the paper in the
photocopier and has practical applications in spraying
and other printing applications.
It follows that if static electricity is commonplace in
everyday life then it will be commonplace in industry as
well. There will be some static electricity in your plant
but is this going to cause an ignition? The extensive use
of static effects in various applications show that even
if it is present, it can be controlled.
This paper will introduce a systematic approach to
identifying hazards attributable to static electricity. It
will explain how and where static electricity is
generated, and it will give guidance on how to control
its effects and reduce the risk of ignition.
A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
For an ignition hazard to be present due to static
Electrical Safety in Hazardous Environments, 19-21 April 1994, Conference Publication No. 390, @ IEE, 1994
electricity, a number of factors are required to occur
simultaneously. These are:
1) A flammable atmosphere.
2) A mechanism by which electrostatic charge is
generated.
3) Somewhere for the charge to accumulate to
dangerous levels.
4) A discharge needs to occur with enough
energy to ignite the flammable atmosphere.
By removing one of the above components, the risk of
ignition can be avoided. The approach used to ensure
safety from static, therefore, is to examine each
component in tum and attempt to eliminate one of
them.
Flammable Ahnospheres
For an ignition risk to be present it follows that there
needs to be a flammable atmosphere. Certain gases,
volatile solvents, dusts and fine droplet mists can form
flammable atmospheres under the right conditions.
It is important when considering the ignition risk due to
static electricity to ascertain the ignition sensitivity of
the flammable atmosphere under consideration. The
parameter used to gauge sensitivity to electrostatic
discharges is the Minimum Ignition Energy of the
atmosphere. As will be discussed later, this parameter
is important in deciding whether any discharge that may
occur is capable of igniting the flammable atmosphere.
Examples of typical Minimum Ignition Energies of
gases, solvent vapours and selected dust clouds are
given in Tables 1 & 2 below, Haase (1) and Field (2).
This shows that gases and solvents are generally more
sensitive to ignition than are dust clouds and,
consequently, they are more sensitive to ignition by
electrostatic discharges.
Recent experience, however, has shown that the
 64
Table 1 - Minimum Ignition Energies of Gases and
Solvent Vapours.
Substance Minimum Ignition Energy
(mJ)
Acetone 1.15
Methanol 0.14
i-Pentane 0.21
Carbon disulphide 0.009
Methane 0.28
Propane 0.25
Hydrogen sulphide 0.068
Hydrogen 0.011
number of powders with a very low Minimum Ignition
Energy (ClOmI) is increasing. Many more materials
are giving ignition energies that are at a similar level to
solvent vapours or gases. This is possibly due to
processing producing finer particle size material or due
to the increased use of complicated organic molecules.
Pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals can be particularly
sensitive to static discharges.
Charge Generation
There are two mechanisms by which most electrostatic
charge is 'generated' - contact electrification and
induction charging.
Contact electrification, more commonly known as
frictional charging, occurswhen two dissimilar materials
come into contact with each other. If one material
prefers to accept electrons to its surface and the other
prefers to give up electrons, then charge will separate at
the interface between the two surfaces. One surface
will become more negatively charged and the other
more positive.
Provided that the materials remain in contact with each
other then this situation will remain in steady state.
However, if the surfaces are rapidly moved apart then
the charge can become separated and charges of
opposite polarity will remain on each surface. This is
the principle of contact electrification.
The amount of charge remaining on the surface after
separation depends on a number of factors - the
potential for the surfaces to accept/donate electrons
Table 2 - Minimum Ignition Energies of Dust Clouds
Substance Minimum Ignition Energy
(mT)
Cotton linters 1920
Soya meal 330
Gum arabic 100
Coal (Pittsburgh) 60
sugar 30
Paracetamol 10
Phenolic resin 5
Sulphur* <1
*Authors data.
(given by the relative positions in the Triboelectric
series - similar to the electrochemical series), the speed
at which the materials are separated and the resistance
of the surface to the flow of electrons being some of the
more important factors.
It follows that the greatest generation of electrostatic
charge occurs when high local velocities are achieved.
Numerous operations are present on a process plant
where materials are moved around rapidly - common
examples include pumping, agitating, spraying and
filtering of liquids; grinding, sieving, conveying and
pouring of solids. The number of problem associated
with static has increased in recent years as the process
industries move towards higher productivity using faster
processing methods.
The other major factor that can affect the amount of
charge generated is the electrical properties of the
material. With liquids the electrical conductivity is
important, with solids it is the electrical resistivity
(conductivity is the reciprocal of resistivity). Examples
of liquid conductivities are given in Table 3, Walmsley
(3).
The lower the conductivity (or the higher the resistivity)
of the material, the greater the electrostatic charge
generation. So, if a process used hexane (conductivity
of 1-30 pS d)then the amount of charge generated
would be less than if methyl alcohol was used
(conductivity of 10' pS m-'). The amount of charge
generation can be reduced, therefore, by changing the
solvent to a more conductive one.
Powders, with the exception of metallic dusts, tend to
have high electrical resistivities.
 65

Table 3 - Minimum Ignition Energies of Gases and For example, plant personnel can become charged by
Solvent Vapours. induction charging if they work in the vicinity of highly
charged objects. Powder charging and discharging
operations are areas where induction charging often
occurs. Again, safety often depends on preventing the
Liquid Electrical Conductivity induced charge from reaching hazardous potentials.
(ps nil)
Charge Accumulation
Water = 109
Alcohols = 105
Ketones = 105 The generation of charge alone does not necessarily
Bromobenzene = l@ produce a hazardous situation. High potentials are.
Dietyl Ether = 10 required to produce discharges and this only happens
Hexane = 10-2 when the charge that is generated is allowed to
Carbon disulphide = lo4 accumulate. Safety in the process industries is normally
based on the prevention of charge accumulation.

Often it is not possible to change the solvent in a
process. It may be possible, though, to put a few drops
of an antistatic additive in the solvent to reduce its
conductivity.
One technique to reduce the amount of electrostatic
charge generated is to reduce the velocity of the
processing operations. With liquids this option is
regularly used to reduce the amount of charge generated
in transfer operations. BS5958 (4) recommends the
following restrictions during the pumping of liquids:
Liauid Conductivih, Flow Velocity
> loo0 pS m-' No restriction
<SO - IO00 ps n i l < 7 m s-I
<SO - ps
with immiscible phases < 1 m s?
An immiscible phase could be undissolved solid or
another liquid phase, such as water in toluene.
Often, however, the option to restrict velocities is not
available as this is in conflict with the requirement to
become more productive. In some processes, for
example the pneumatic conveying of powders, it is not
a practicable option either. Safety then often depends on
the prevention of charge accumulation.
Charge can also be 'generated' by induction. When a
conductive object is in the vicinity of an electrostatically
charged object, the potential on the conductive object
can increase by induction. In certain cases it is possible
for the conductive object to move away from the
charged object and retain a hazardous electrostatic
charge.
There are a number of areas where charge can be
accumulated:
Liquids
Powders
Isolated conductors
High resistivity solids
Insulating Sheets
Liquids. Charge accumulation only occurs when the
rate that the charge is generated is greater that the rate
that the charge can be dissipated from the object. It is
important that the charge has somewhere to dissipate to.
It is essential that the liquid has contact with earth at all
times and in steel plant this is normally the case. In
lined plant it is often necessary to install earth points
such as tantalum plugs below the liquid level, although
often there will be an earthed component in contact with
the liquid (such as a thermocouple pocket or a bottom
run-off valve).
Charge is generally accumulated and hence can be
retained longer on high resistivity liquids. Charge is
readily accumulated when the conductivity of the liquid
is below 50 pS m-l but is usually dissipated too rapidly
to give a hazard when the conductivity is above this
value. Occasionally, however, when the charging is
exceptionally vigorous (for example the high speed
stirring of a solid suspension), hazardous potentials can
be produced with liquids that have conductivity as high
as lo00 pS d.
Often after a liquid has been subjected to vigorous
charging it is necessary to give the charge on the liquid
time to relax. For a single phase liquid in a metal tank
a period of 100 seconds should be sufficient. However,
if the liquid contains an immiscible phase it should be
held for at least 30 mins in order to allow the phases to
separate and relax any separation potentials.
 66
Powders. A6 most powders have a high resistivity they
accumulate electrostatic charge readily and the charge
cannot be dissipated easily. It is often difficult to predict
whether in any particular situation, a hazardous amount
of charge is present. Often trials have to be camed out
to assess the individual process.
Safety with powders is not normally based on the
elimination of the electrostatic charge. They are only
handled in situations where any discharge will not ignite
the flammable dust cloud (provided that the Minimum
Ignition Energy is known) or where explosion protection
is provided.
Isolated Conductors. The ability of an isolated
conductor to retain charge depends on its resistance to
earth. Hazardous levels of electrostatic charge will not
be accumulated provided that the object has a resistance
to earth of less than 106 Q. In all but high charging
situations, a resistance to earth of less than 10s n will be
sufficient.
All isolated conductors should be earthed and some
typical examples of common conductors that could be
isolated are given below:
- Drums, tankers, fibreboard kegs, buckets.
- Metallic pipework and process vessels. Small
process vessels are often isolated from earth by
putting them on non-conducting wheels.
- Flanges or nozzles that are connected to a non-
conducting pipe, for example backing flanges on
QVF pipework.
- A conductor that is floating on a non-conducting
liquid, such as a sampling can.
- PTFE ball valvk - often the ball and handle are
isolated from earth.
- Plant personnel who are not wearing anti-static
shoes or who are stood on an insulating surface.
Sparks from isolated conductors are the most common
cause of electrostatic hazards and cause many incidents.
However, this risk can easily avoided by earthing and
bonding all conductors to prevent the accumulation of
charge.
High Resistivity Solid Items. An item constructed
from a material with a high electrical resistivity, giving
a resistance to earth exceeding 1@n, is capable of
accumulating electrostatic charge. Resistivity in solid
materials is often expressed as volume resistivity and
surface resistivity, and materials that have values that
exceed 108Q and 10IOn, respectively can accumulate
electrostatic charge.
Typical examples of high resistivity solids include
PTFE, glass, polythene, nylon and PVC.
Materials that normally have a high surface resistivity
may be rendered conducting under damp conditions. In
this context, a damp atmosphere is one where the
relative humidity exceeds about 65 96.
Examples where charge could accumulate on high
resistivity solids are given below:
- When the surface of a plastic item, such as a length
of pipe, a sheet or a drum, is rubbed.
- If a plastic container is filled with a highly charged
powder.
- When powder is emptied from a plastic drum, or
any drum containing a polythene liner.
- On the surface of a plastic item in contact with a
spray or mist.
- On a plastic pipe that carries a stream of liquid,
powder or a mist.
- When plastic films are separated.
It should be recognised that, although presenting a
hazard in themselves, high resistivity materials are able
to isolate conducting items from earth. This presents a
greater ignition risk than from the material itself.
Insulating Sheets. This special case of a high
resistivity material requires a special mention as it is
capable of retaining very high levels of electrostatic
charge, and energy. Normally the charge that can be
stored on the surface of an insulating sheet is limited
and can be dissipated by non-incendive discharges.
However, when sheets become polarised (carry equal
and opposite charges on each side of the sheet), charge
dissipation does not occur and very high levels of
charge can accumulate.
In practice this occurs when:
- One side of the sheet has an earthed metal backing
and the other side is highly charged.
- Charges on one surface of the material cause charge
to be deposited on the other side of the drum by
'glow corona'.
These can occur, for example, when an earthed and
plastic lined drum, or a plastic drum, is filled with a
highly charged powder. In this example the deposition
of high levels of charge on the inner surface could be
avoided by inserting an earthed rod in the drum during
the filling operation.
Electrostatic Discharges
Electrostatic discharges are produced when high electric
fields, produced by high accumulated charges, break
down. Some or all of the stored electrical energy is
converted to heat during the breakdown and this heat
 67
may cause an ignition. The energy available for ignition
depends on the type of discharge and its origin. Ignition
will occur when the energy of the discharge exceeds the
Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE) of the flammable
atmosphere.
The energy available in a discharge is often termed the
equivalent energy. It is often not possible to determine
the energy r e l d in a discharge directly, however, it
is possible to compare the incendivity of the discharge
against another at a known energy. The equivalent
energy is often described as the Minimum Ignition
Energy of a flammable atmosphere that it is just
capable of igniting, Gibson & Lloyd (5).
The types of discharge importaut to safety in the process
industries are described briefly below.
Spark Discharges. Spark discharges could occur when
there is a breakdown of the electric field between two
conducting items. During breakdown, a hot conducting
plasma channel forms between the items and charge
from one item transfers to the other, until the potential
difference between the two items is eliminated. Most of
the energy stored on the conductors is tumed to heat in
the plasma channel.
The amount of energy that can be stored on a
conducting item depends on its capacitance and its
potential. Typically, isolated conductingitems can reach
potentials (V) of 10-30 kV. Capacitance (C) is
dependent on size of the object, and its location with
respect to earth. The energy (E) on an object can be
calculated from the equation
E = %CVz
Some examples of typical stored energies are given in
Table 4, Walmsley (3).
Clearly, when comparing the stored energies against the
MIE values in Tables 1 & 2, spark discharges are
capable of igniting vapours, gases and dusts. In
addition, sparks from large objects can be incendive to
gases and vapours at potentials as low as 1kV. For these
reasons, spark discharges are considered to be the most
likely to cause a hazard in the process industries and
should be eliminated by earthing and bonding all
conducting items.
Corona Discharges. Corona occurs when a sharp
conductor that is charged a high potential or is brought
into strong electric field. They do not form hot
conducting plasma channels as described above and are
very diffuse discharges. Only a small proportion of the
energy is available to cause ignition.
Table 4 - Stored Energies on Some Common Objects
at a Potential of 30kV.
Object Capacitance Stored Energy
@F) (mT)
Road Tanker SO00 2250
Person 200 90
Bucket 20 9
100” flange 10 4.5
loomm bolt 3 1.4
Irrespective of the amount of energy stored, corona
dischargeshave an equivalent energy of less than 0.2mT.
They are incapable of igniting most gases and vapours,
with the exception of very sensitive materials such as
hydrogen, acetylene and carbon disulphide.
The normal effect of corona discharges is to dissipate
energy in a non-incendive way - a fact that is used in
non-powered electrostatic eliminators.
Brush Discharges. These discharges are produced
between an earthed object and a highly charged non-
conducting (or insulating) material. Insulating materials
may be liquids, powders or non-conducting solid objects
or sheet. Brush discharges are characterised by a short,
hot plasma channel terminating in a h e network (the
brush) of finer channels reaching and spreading around
the insulating surface.
Not all the charge on the surface is available for
discharge as is the case for conducting items. This limits
the energy in the discharge and only a fraction of the
total energy is available to give ignition. The equivalent
energy of brush discharges is taken to be 4mT. As only
a proportion of the charge on the surface is available for
discharge, multiple brush discharges can be obtained
from the same surface.
Brush discharges are capable of igniting most gases and
vapours, and may ignite some of the more sensitive
dusts.
Propagating Brush Discharges. Propagating brush
discharges are produced at the surface of highly charged
and polarised insulating sheets. The approach of an
earthed object to the sheet causes an enhancement in the
electric field and produces a brush discharge. This
removes the charge from a small area of the sheet -
which is no longer polarised - creating intensely strong
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electric fields across the surface. These fields lead to
further breakdowns which eliminate charge from other
areas and the discharge propagates in an avalanche of
discharges.
Several joules of energy can be stored on a polarised
charged sheet and all this energy can be released in a
propagating brush discharge. Propagating brush
discharges, therefore, are highly incendive and should
be avoided whenever flammable atmospherescan occur.
In addition, there is a risk of severe physiological shock
to plant personnel from propagating brush discharges. A
joule of energy is sufficient to give a severe shock,
throwing the operator backwards, and can cause
temporary paralysis.
Cone Discharges. These discharges, often known as
bulk surface discharges, occur at the surface of highly
charged piles of powder or granules. When a highly
charged, insulating powder collects in bulk (for example
in a silo or a drum), high electrostatic fields are
produced which ionise the air at the surface of the
powder. This forms hot, conductive channels that
propagate energy from the side of the wall to the centre
of the material pile.
accumulate to high potentials and a discharge of
sufficient energy to ignite the flammable atmosphere.
The risk from static electricity can be controlled by
eliminating one of the four components. This may be
by simply providing good earthing and bonding, or by
reducing pumping velocities, for example.
Elaborate solutions are often not required to avoid an
electrostatichazard, provided that a systematic approach
is used to identify the problem. However, on some
occasions it is not possible to eliminate the electrostatic
risk completely and in those cases, explosion protection
may be needed.
Static electricity, as is electrical equipment, is only one
of many potential ignition sources that can be present in
the process industries. The basis of safety in any
process should be amved at by considering all the
potential risks together in a hazard assessment, rather
than addressing each risk in isolation.
REFERENCES
1. Haase, H., 1977, Electrostatic Hazards -
Their Evaluation and Control, 107-109

It is not possible to predict the energy dissipated in a 2. Field, P., 1982, Handbook of Powder
cone discharge, but industrial experience suggests it has Technology No 4 - Dust Explosions, 204-
an equivalent energy of about 1 0 d . Therefore, it is 220
capable of causing ignition of gases, vapours and
sensitive dusts. 3. Walmsley, H.L., 1992, J. Electrostatics,
27.

Lightning Discharges. Lightning is caused in large 4. Various, 1991, British Standard BS5958 -
clouds of highly charged droplets in clouds in the Control Of Undesirable Static Electricity.
atmosphere. Although it was once thought that lightning
discharges may be possible in highly charged powders 5. Gibson, N. and Lloyd, F.C., 1965, Brit. J.
and mists in the process industries, industrial experience A d . Phys., 16, 16-19.
suggests otherwise. Experiments with charged dusts in
volumes up to 60m3, and with charged mists in the
washing of ships tank up to a volume of 3oooOm3,have
failed to produce lightning discharges.

It is considered that lightning discharges in industrial

scale equipment would be highly unlikely.

SUMMARY

This paper has discussed the main features that result is

electrostatic discharges - static electricity - becoming a
hazard in the process industries. It has shown that a
hazard requires four components to be present at the
same time; a flammable atmosphere, a mechanism for
charge generation, somewhere for the charge to