Statistical analysis of fires and explosions attributed to static electricity over the last 50 years in Japanese industry

Ohsawa, A.

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/301/1/012033

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…As active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and excipients are organic materials with high resistivity, charge decay takes minutes or hours and an accumulation of charge is induced by powder manipulations. In addition to flow problems, electrostatic discharge could ignite fires and explosions when small grains are dispersed in air, Glor (2003); Ohsawa (2011). Therefore, a better understanding of charging mechanisms could improve the development and production processes and also the delivery systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tribo-electrification of pharmaceutical powder blends

Rescaglio

Smet

Aerts

et al. 2019

Particulate Science and Technology

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It is well known in industrial applications involving powders and granular materials that the presence of electrostatic charges influences drastically the material flowing properties. The triboelectric charges are produced during flow at the contacts between the grains and at the contacts between the grains and the container. Unfortunately, the triboelectric effect is still poorly understood, even at the fundamental level. Therefore, the approach to solve practical problems is mostly empirical. Moreover, reproducible electrostatic measurements are difficult to perform. In the present study, the ability of a set of excipients and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to produce electrostatic charges during flow in contact with different materials is analyzed with a recently developed instrument called GranuCharge. While different excipients have almost the same triboelectric behavior and a low chargability, APIs show complex triboelectric properties. Some APIs charge a lot while other APIs charge less. Afterward, the electrostatic behavior of API/ excipient blends is considered. We show that the net charge of the blend is a complex function of the relative quantity of API in the mixture. Moreover, both the quantity and the sign of the charge are found to depend on the material in contact with the powder during the flow.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tribo-electrification of pharmaceutical powder blends

Rescaglio

Smet

Aerts

et al. 2019

Particulate Science and Technology

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show abstract

“…It is evident that accidents involving fires and explosions caused by static electricity occur in industry. A detailed statistical analysis of fires and explosions attributed to static electricity in Japan was analyzed, for example, by Ohsawa 28 . From the point of view of addressing the potential risks in the operation of the steam curtains, it is essential to determine the value of the electric charge energy.…”

Section: Electrostatic Charge Determinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A detailed statistical analysis of fires and explosions attributed to static electricity in Japan was analyzed, for example, by Ohsawa. 28…”

Section: Electrostatic Charge Determinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risks and limitations of steam curtains protection in case of flammable gases leakage

Kulich¹,

Herink

2022

Process Safety Progress

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Refinery and petrochemical production facilities process and produce gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons. In case of any failure, improper design, or human error, flammable or toxic substances can be released into the environment. In such cases, vapor barriers of steam curtains are used in the chemical industry to primarily dilute the released gases as well as to divert the gases to the safe area away from a potential source of ignition. When steam is ejected from a nozzle in the pipe wall, the medium rubs against the edge of the nozzle, liquid water impinges on the wall of the nozzle, and an electrostatic charge can therefore be expected. From the above description, it can be deduced that if the operation of the steam curtains is associated with the generation of electrostatic charge and the possibility of its discharge and the generation of electrostatic sparks, the activation of the steam curtains during the discharge of flammable gases paradoxically represents a certain risk. From the point of view of

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“…If the charge on the particles becomes too high, it can discharge in form of a spark and cause a dust explosion. These dust explosions are often devastating, destroy complete plants, result in severe economic damage, and even loss of lives [1][2][3]. Thus, the questions of how, where, and why powder electrifies are utmost pressing for explosion protection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation of PMMA powder flow electrification using a new charging model based on single-particle experiments

Großhans¹,

Xu²,

Matsuyama³

2022

Preprint

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Thus far, simulations fail to predict the electrostatic charging of powder during pneumatic transport accurately. We advanced the modeling of powder flow charging by a three-part study: first, we shot individual particles on a metal target and measured the exchanged charge. Second, based on these results, we formulated an empirical model and implemented it in our CFD tool. Using this tool, we performed large-eddy simulations of the powder flow through a square duct with a cylindrical obstacle inside. Finally, we measured powder charging of in our pneumatic conveying test rig and compared it to the simulations. The simulations and the new model successfully predict the charging of powder consisting of monodisperse particles of a size of 200 µm. Contrary to the usual procedure for this type of simulation, the numerical predictions require no tuning of any model parameters. According to our model, these contacts lead to bipolar charge distributions.

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Statistical analysis of fires and explosions attributed to static electricity over the last 50 years in Japanese industry

Cited by 18 publications

References 0 publications

Tribo-electrification of pharmaceutical powder blends

Tribo-electrification of pharmaceutical powder blends

Risks and limitations of steam curtains protection in case of flammable gases leakage

Simulation of PMMA powder flow electrification using a new charging model based on single-particle experiments

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