New Trends in Static Electricity Prevention
Previous anti-static technologies largely followed three principles: suppression, conduction, and neutralization. This was because it was generally believed that completely preventing static electricity was impossible; the only approach was to suppress the accumulation of static charge, such as strictly limiting the speed of material transport and personnel operations, and ensuring equipment and pipelines were as smooth and flat as possible, avoiding sharp edges, etc. If suppression was impossible, conduction was attempted, i.e., releasing the charge to the ground, such as humidifying the workplace air, grounding all conductors, laying conductive materials on workbenches and floors, requiring operators to wear conductive clothing and shoes, and even wearing conductive wristbands, etc. If conduction was not possible, neutralization was attempted in place, such as using inductive static eliminators, high-voltage static eliminators, and ion wind static eliminators.
Although some measures have been taken to eliminate static electricity and have achieved certain results, the hazards of static electricity have not been completely eliminated. After years of analysis and research on the application and effectiveness of various anti-static methods, it has been realized that these methods are still localized prevention, and there will always be areas unprotected by prevention measures that may still be subject to static electricity hazards. Therefore, the question arises: can a comprehensive, all-environmental static electricity prevention method be found? The answer is yes, this is the new concept of modern static electricity prevention-comprehensive, all-environmental static electricity prevention.
Unlike traditional static electricity prevention concepts, comprehensive, all-environmental static electricity prevention focuses not on specific locations or work surfaces that generate static electricity, but on the entire work area. Its core is to eliminate the possibility of static electricity accumulation due to friction in all equipment, materials, and personnel during all stages of work. This new concept has become a guiding principle for preventing static electricity hazards in modern industry, office automation, and home electronic devices.
To achieve comprehensive, all-environmental static electricity prevention according to this guiding principle, the following key technologies must be developed:
1. In relatively enclosed production or work environments, take appropriate measures to ensure that the floors, walls, and ceilings have good static conductivity.
2. Take surface treatment measures for all equipment work surfaces, chairs, etc., to effectively change the surface impedance of various materials so that static electricity is not generated or accumulated when subjected to friction.
3. Take comprehensive anti-static protection measures for operators or workers in this environment to minimize static electricity on their bodies.
The above anti-static measures should be independent of the relative humidity of the ambient air, or the space of the environment should be treated to increase the static conductivity of the air.