Electrostatic Hazards
Dipl.-Ing. Gu¨nter Lu¨ttgens
and Dr Norman Wilson
The topic of electrostatic hazards in industry has long been
recognized as an important but often misunderstood subject. On
the one hand, too often accidents have occurred because of a lack
of understanding of the fundamental principles of the origin of
static electricity. On the other, in the course of accident investigations
when no obvious cause could be identified, electrostatics
has often been blamed inappropriately.
This book fills a real need for industrial practitioners by providing
insight to the nature of static electricity and specific examples
of problems that can arise in the workplace. Although aimed at
the non-specialist the book contains much new information never
previously published which will be of interest to the specialist as
well. The authors bring combined experience of over 60 years
which they have devoted to the subject and have managed to
summarize here.
The material is divided into three main sections. Chapters 1–3
include basic background information dealing with the dangers
of fire and explosion, the origins of static electricity and the
fundamentals of gas discharges. Chapter 4 summarizes the principles
of safety and acts as a bridge between the fundamentals
and the case histories which follow in Chapters 5–10. This latter
section is the core of the book and consists of over 55 different
descriptions of real cases. The authors hold the reader’s interest
in what could otherwise be a dry listing of facts by presenting the
material much in the manner of a mystery story. They describe
the individual cases by presenting different clues, some of which
are seemingly insignificant, systematically evaluating them and
then by leading the reader through appropriate deductions finally
conclude the cause of the problem. In this way the reputed
mysterious nature of electrostatics is made clear. The examples
cover a broad range of industries and involve hazards associated
with solids, liquids and powders. They range from the common
to the esoteric. In many the truth seems stranger than fiction and
yet all cases cited are based upon fact and are described exactly
as they happened.
This book appears at a particularly appropriate time. Modern
materials used in industry tend to have properties which are
leading to more rather than fewer problems due to static electricity.
By sharing their experience through presenting such a broad
cross-section of examples the authors provide an invaluable aid
for practitioners in industry to prevent many future accidents.
G. S. P. Castle
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