Static Electricity

Written by world-renowned experts on the topic with many years of research and consultancy experience, this invaluable book provides the practitioners’ perspective, outlining the dangers and benefits of static electricity in industry.

The first chapter reviews the fundamentals of understanding fires and explosions in general and electricity-induced ignition in particular, while the following chapter is dedicated to the origins of static electricity in industrial settings, such as in flowing gases and the transport of disperse systems. The major part of the text deals with measuring static electricity, elimination of unwanted charges and hazard prevention under different conditions. It concludes with an overview of practical applications in chemical and mechanical engineering. Throughout the book, real-life case studies illustrate the fundamental aspects so as to further an understanding of how to control and apply static electricity and thus reduce material damages as well as increase occupational safety.

Plus additional movie sequences on the dedicated website showing static electricity in action.

BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS - RISK ASSESSMENT
Understanding Fire and Explosion Processes
Explosion Limits
Ignition Hazards Due to Electrostatic Charges
Comment on the Risk Assessment
Classification of Hazardous Areas in Danger Zones
Protective Measures with Regard to Static Electricity
Methods to Determine the Ignition Capability of Gas Discharges
Avoiding Explosion Hazards
Constructive Explosion Protection
 
ORIGIN OF STATIC ELECTRICITY
Double Layer Discharge
What Determines the Charging Amount?
Charging of Flowing Liquids
Attempt at Classification
Charging of Flowing Gases
Charging of Disperse Systems
Reduction of Charging Tendency
Electric Field
Electrostatic Induction
 
MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY
Explanation of Electrostatic Measurements
Voltage Measurement with Voltmeters
Measuring the Electric Field Strength
Measuring the Electrical Resistance of Insulating Materials
Other Metrological Applications
Capacity
Influencing Factors
Detection of Gas Discharges
 
GAS DISCHARGES AS SOURCES OF IGNITION
Gas Discharges in Electrostatics
Gas Discharge Types
Effects of Gas Discharges
How to Avoid Gas Discharges?
Assessment of Ignition Hazards Posed by Gas Discharges
Damage Resulting from Gas Discharges
Effects of Electricity on the Human Body
 
ELIMINATION OF DISTURBING CHARGES
Discharging of Charged Surfaces
Potential Hazards from Discharging Electrodes
 
DESCRIPTION OF DEMONSTRATION EXPERIMENTS
Electrostatic Force Effects
Separation Charging
Charging of Particles
Induction
Conductivity
Experiments with the Blast Tube
Gas Discharges
Fire and Explosion Hazards
 
CASE STUDIES
Investigation Strategy
Ignition Due to Brush Discharges
Ignitions Due to Spark Discharges
Ignition Due to Cone Discharges
Doubts About Electrostatic Ignition
Experience-Led Actions
 
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF CHARGES
Practical Applications
Examples of Creative Implementations
Summary
 
MATHEMATICAL TOOLBOX: QUANTITIES, UNITS, FORMULAS,
Appendix A: SI Units
Appendix B: Derived SI Units
Appendix C: Units in General Applications
Appendix D: Decimal Parts and Multiples
Appendix E: Symbols
Appendix F: Permittivity

• By (author) Günter Lüttgens
• By (author) Sylvia Lüttgens
• By (author) Wolfgang Schubert