Electrostatic Hazards

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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