Occasionally, we are surprised by a fire or explosion in industries that handle flammable materials. We know that the typical fire triangle consists of fuel, oxygen, and ignition.
In industrial facilities, ignition can occur from a variety of sources, such as thermal, electrical, mechanical, and chemical.
Electrical ignition sources include equipment that uses AC or DC current, static electricity creation, and atmospheric discharges.
Some fire and explosion events have already happened, and the sources of ignition have been unclear. These accidents have caused numerous losses, including human casualties and property damage. Static electricity buildup, which is silent and difficult to detect, may have created these issues.
We know that static electricity accumulation can be interpreted as generation less dissipation. Based on this premise, below are several ways to prevent accumulation:
- Avoid using nonconductive materials in equipment. Use metal, conductive plastic, or rubber.
- Make process flow streams more conductive, use antistatic additives or humidification.
- Ground and bond all conductive objects.
- Use static eliminators to ionize the air surrounding charged objects, providing a dissipation path.
- Humidify the workplace since a moisture layer on the surface of equipment promotes conductivity, even for non-conductive objects.