Static electricity can present challenges in many production processes, especially when handling non-conductive materials such as plastic, paper, wood, and textiles. This problem often worsens in the winter months, where the outdoor humidity is low and indoor air is dry. In processes like printing and laminating, eliminating static electricity is crucial for safety and product quality. Static control plays a key role, particularly when the production involves insulating (non-conductive) materials.
Some of the most well-known challenges associated with static electricity in the production environment include:
Sparks in machines: When sparks form in machines, it’s often an indication of accumulated static charges, which can be linked to static electricity.
Shocks: Operators often experience electric shocks from foil rolls or sheets on running machines. These shocks are typically due to static discharges, which can pose a hazard to operators and others approaching the machines.
Materials sticking together and difficult to handle: Static electricity can complicate machine operation at high speeds and cause finished foils to stick together, creating problems in subsequent process steps.
Disruption of material flow: Static electricity or static charges on products can disrupt the flow of material in the production line.
Attraction of dust to products: Machine processes can generate static electricity, attracting dust and dirt from the surroundings to the product. This can be difficult to remove through ordinary cleaning unless the static charge is first eliminated.
Fire hazard in machines: In environments with flammable gases, static electricity can cause sparks in machines, posing a serious safety risk, especially in areas with high dust concentration. This can be countered by using antistatic equipment suitable for EX applications.
What causes static electricity? Static charges or static electricity primarily arise from the friction and separation of poorly conducting materials, also known as non-conductors or insulators. Static charges are invisible but can be measured using an electrostatic field meter (see the section on “Static measurement”). Modern industries today often use “active ionization” as a professional and controlled method to remove static electricity.
Active removal of static electricity is performed using our Simco ionization equipment / ionizing equipment, which produces positive and negative ions to neutralize static electricity on a given product. If the product is negatively charged, it will attract positive ions, and if it is positively charged, it will attract negative ions.
Simco-Ion Europe has developed and produced this ionization equipment for more than 60 years. In Simco-Ion’s product range, one finds several products designed to eliminate static electricity such as:
ion bars (AC and DC), ion nozzles, ion guns, ion blowers, ion air knives, and ion tubes. Whether you aim to remove static electricity in a specific process or protect operators from static electricity, our team is ready to assist.
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