Static Electricity in Industry: Preventing Explosions of Dusts and Volatile Fluids

In Static Electricity in Industry: Preventing Explosions of Dusts and Volatile Fluids, you'll learn ...

• The four different ways that charge separation can be induced in a material, resulting in static electricity
• The four common types of electrostatic discharge, along with the discharge energies involved
• The five general conditions necessary for an electrostatic ignition hazard to be present
• The ignition energy and characteristics of gases, aerosols/foams, combustible dusts and hybrid vapor-dust mixtures as they relate to static discharge hazards

Overview

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Credit: 2 CPD

Length: 25 pages

The phenomenon of static electricity is ever-present, and is generated continuously through relative motion – in other words whenever surfaces of materials come into contact and separate. Typical examples of this in industry includes liquids flowing through pipes or filling into drums and tanks, powder dropping down a chute – and even a person walking across the floor in shoes with rubber soles.

Recent incidents in industry have intensified the general awareness of the hazards arising from static electricity, particularly in operations involving flammable solvents and many other flammable, low-conductivity materials.

In this course, you’ll learn the various ways that static charges form as well as the energy produced by static charges and the amount of energy required to ignite flammable vapors and dusts. You’ll learn design and operating guidelines that are necessary to mitigate the potential for explosions in hazardous areas. A case study is presented of an explosion at a chemical distribution facility in Des Moines, Iowa that was caused by a static discharge.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Investigate causes of static electricity and determine the resulting implications for system performance or safety.
• Derive the difference between contact-induced, heat-induced, and pressure-induced charge separation using course principles and given data.
• Quantify the amount of energy released in a static electricity discharge using course principles and given data.
• Classify sparks, brush discharges, and cone discharges, citing the distinguishing characteristics relevant to engineering decisions.
• Calculate the relationship between the minimum ignition energy of solvent vapors and their concentration using course principles and given data.
• Appraise how oxygen content and static pressure influence the static discharge explosion potential of a flammable vapor and determine the resulting implications for system performance or safety.
• Analyze the reasons dust clouds are less sensitive to ignition than flammable gases, and yet are more likely to be associated with electrostatic ignition due to their propensity to generate electrostatic charge through handling, and determine the resulting implications for system performance or safety.
• Explain how static electricity is generated when handling powders, dusts, and flammable liquids and demonstrate understanding through an assessment question or scenario.
• Apply design and operating guidelines to prevent and/or dissipate the buildup of static charges in a representative engineering or safety scenario.
• Identify the three factors that determine the amount of charge generated by a liquid flowing in a straight pipe and demonstrate understanding through an assessment question or scenario.
• Recognize how particle size, velocity, wall material, temperature, and humidity affect the levels of electrostatic potential of a flammable dust being transported through ductwork and demonstrate understanding through an assessment question or scenario.
• Demonstrate newer technologies used in intermediate bulk containers that are designed to dissipate static charges in a representative engineering or safety scenario.
• Evaluate the management of risks through hazardous area classifications and determine the resulting implications for system performance or safety.
• Summarize lessons learned from a fire and series of explosions at the Barton Solvents chemical distribution facility in Des Moines, Iowa, and demonstrate understanding through an assessment question or scenario.

Certificate of Completion

You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 12 questions. CPD credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.