Published January 2010

Explosion and fires by reason of static electricity

S.R.Rasulov

The development of oil industry, aviation, automobile and sea transport, the increase of scales and rates of production made the problem of struggle with harmful and dangerous displays of static electricity during processing, transportation and usage of highly inflammable liquids considerably acute. Liquid hydrocarbons, in the majority of cases, are bad electric conductors, and have the tendency of electrization and conservation of electric charges. It leads to that in the course of tanks fillup, the liquids that are being filled up on high speed can contain substantial in magnitude charges of static electricity. Fires, emerged as a result of static electricity charges, are not very rare. The data about numerous accidents of oil tankers, means of airplane fuel filling as a result of static electricity is cited in the article. The analysis of literature data about liquid dielectrics electrization during pumping through pipes and filters demonstrated that nowadays the unified theory of liquid electrization, which adequately would take in account numerous factors that more or less influence on the process of charge separation, doesn’t exist. It can be deduced from aforesaid the importance and necessity of implement of oil products electrization researches and development of means to bring down dangerous spark formation.