Process Safety Progress, Vol.21, No.3, 181-184, 2002
Charge generation during filling of insulated tanks
This research involves charge generation measurements for various flammable fluids during filling of insulated tanks and relating static charging with flow rate and physicochemical parameters especially changes in electrical conductivity The objective is to correlate static charge measured inside baffled metal and polyethylene tanks as a function of impeller Reynolds number, and the electrical conductivity of both the hydrocarbon and the dispersed water phase for a variety of flammable liquids A product of the research is a correlation for polyethylene and other plastic insulated tanks for transfers of low conductivity liquid fuels Also a universal (dimensionless) correlation that relates the charging data to the colloidal nature of the mixture will be developed for static charge generation during impeller mixing of light hydrocarbons containing various concentrations of water in cylindrical tanks The correlation of electrostatic data from this research will help make impossible to control electrostatic charges, and, as a result greatly improve safety of operations involving flammable fluids in industry.