Accendo Reliability

Your Reliability Engineering Professional Development Site

  • Home
  • About
    • Contributors
  • Reliability.fm
    • Speaking Of Reliability
    • Rooted in Reliability: The Plant Performance Podcast
    • Quality during Design
    • Way of the Quality Warrior
    • Critical Talks
    • Dare to Know
    • Maintenance Disrupted
    • Metal Conversations
    • The Leadership Connection
    • Practical Reliability Podcast
    • Reliability Matters
    • Reliability it Matters
    • Maintenance Mavericks Podcast
    • Women in Maintenance
    • Accendo Reliability Webinar Series
  • Articles
    • CRE Preparation Notes
    • on Leadership & Career
      • Advanced Engineering Culture
      • Engineering Leadership
      • Managing in the 2000s
      • Product Development and Process Improvement
    • on Maintenance Reliability
      • Aasan Asset Management
      • AI & Predictive Maintenance
      • Asset Management in the Mining Industry
      • CMMS and Reliability
      • Conscious Asset
      • EAM & CMMS
      • Everyday RCM
      • History of Maintenance Management
      • Life Cycle Asset Management
      • Maintenance and Reliability
      • Maintenance Management
      • Plant Maintenance
      • Process Plant Reliability Engineering
      • ReliabilityXperience
      • RCM Blitz®
      • Rob’s Reliability Project
      • The Intelligent Transformer Blog
      • The People Side of Maintenance
      • The Reliability Mindset
    • on Product Reliability
      • Accelerated Reliability
      • Achieving the Benefits of Reliability
      • Apex Ridge
      • Metals Engineering and Product Reliability
      • Musings on Reliability and Maintenance Topics
      • Product Validation
      • Reliability Engineering Insights
      • Reliability in Emerging Technology
    • on Risk & Safety
      • CERM® Risk Insights
      • Equipment Risk and Reliability in Downhole Applications
      • Operational Risk Process Safety
    • on Systems Thinking
      • Communicating with FINESSE
      • The RCA
    • on Tools & Techniques
      • Big Data & Analytics
      • Experimental Design for NPD
      • Innovative Thinking in Reliability and Durability
      • Inside and Beyond HALT
      • Inside FMEA
      • Integral Concepts
      • Learning from Failures
      • Progress in Field Reliability?
      • R for Engineering
      • Reliability Engineering Using Python
      • Reliability Reflections
      • Testing 1 2 3
      • The Manufacturing Academy
  • eBooks
  • Resources
    • Accendo Authors
    • FMEA Resources
    • Feed Forward Publications
    • Openings
    • Books
    • Webinars
    • Journals
    • Higher Education
    • Podcasts
  • Courses
    • 14 Ways to Acquire Reliability Engineering Knowledge
    • Reliability Analysis Methods online course
    • Measurement System Assessment
    • SPC-Process Capability Course
    • Design of Experiments
    • Foundations of RCM online course
    • Quality during Design Journey
    • Reliability Engineering Statistics
    • Quality Engineering Statistics
    • An Introduction to Reliability Engineering
    • Reliability Engineering for Heavy Industry
    • An Introduction to Quality Engineering
    • Process Capability Analysis course
    • Root Cause Analysis and the 8D Corrective Action Process course
    • Return on Investment online course
    • CRE Preparation Online Course
    • Quondam Courses
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Live Events
  • Calendar
    • Call for Papers Listing
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Calendar
  • Login
    • Member Home

by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Static Electricity Basics

Static Electricity Basics

Static electricity is the build-up of opposite polarity (positive and negative) electrical charges on two different substances in contact by the movement of one surface across the other. The spark that can occur from static build-up is the result of the opposite charges neutralising themselves when the electrical field between them becomes strong enough to overcome the gap resistance. 

Static can occur on both conducting (such as metal pipes) and non-conducting (such as rubber) materials. Examples are moving liquids, gases carrying particulate, conveyor and vee-belts, printing equipment, on rubber and plastic items, during dry cleaning, on moving road vehicles and airplanes.

How does static occur?

Four requirements must be present to build-up static:

• Movement occurs between two surfaces in contact. • Two individual substances are present.
• The contacting surfaces are chemically different.
• Charges of opposite polarity separate and stay apart.

Control of static

The natural tendency of opposite polarity electrical charges is to recombine and neutralise. The control of static involves using methods that allow opposite charges to recombine safely or that provide a pathway for the charges to drain away to an electrical earth (It really does go into the ground).

Conducting materials can be electrically connected either by bonding all parts together to provide a pathway for the charges to recombine or the separate parts are individually earthed to create a pathway for the charges to drain away. The best practice is to use both methods simultaneously by connecting all individual parts together and earthing the lot. Electrically earth at two points on each circuit – just in case.

Non-conducting materials, by the nature of their chemical make-up, do not allow the flow of electrical charges. In this case static is controlled by putting conducting materials in direct contact with a large surface area of the nonconductor. Conducting additives can be put into the nonconductor when it is made and the item bonded to earth. Metal can be applied to the nonconductor’s surface and the metal connected to earth. Atmospheric humidity can be artificially increased which permits the static to dissipate through the water vapour in the air. Ionised (electrically charged) air can be created and the charges of opposite polarities in the air and on the nonconductor combine and neutralise.

On-going maintenance

At least annually, test that the electrical resistance of the static bonding and earthing meets the requirements of the applicable electrical code. Keep your eyes open for disconnected earthing straps when walking about statically earthed plant and get any detachd items reattached. No corrosion is permitted at the bonding and earthing points since rust may separate the contact faces. Make jumpers from heavy cable or straps with solid connectors so if disconnected often they will still last decades. Always ground equipment, more so if its parts can build-up static.

Mike Sondalini – Maintenance Engineer


We (Accendo Reliability) published this article with the kind permission of Feed Forward Publishing, a subsidiary of BIN95.com

Web: trade-school.education
E-mail: info@trade-school.education

If you found this interesting you may like the ebook Process Control Essentials.

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, Plant Maintenance

About Mike Sondalini

In engineering and maintenance since 1974, Mike’s career extends across original equipment manufacturing, beverage processing and packaging, steel fabrication, chemical processing and manufacturing, quality management, project management, enterprise asset management, plant and equipment maintenance, and maintenance training. His specialty is helping companies build highly effective operational risk management processes, develop enterprise asset management systems for ultra-high reliable assets, and instil the precision maintenance skills needed for world class equipment reliability.

« The 2 Parameter Lognormal Distribution 7 Formulas
Mathematical Models, Algorithms, and Risk Management Methodologies »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Article by
Mike Sondalini
in the
Plant Maintenance series articles provided courtesy of Feed Forward Publications and Lifetime Reliability Solutions.

Join Accendo

Receive information and updates about articles and many other resources offered by Accendo Reliability by becoming a member.

It’s free and only takes a minute.

Join Today

Recent Articles

  • test
  • test
  • test
  • Your Most Important Business Equation
  • Your Suppliers Can Be a Risk to Your Project

© 2025 FMS Reliability · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · Cookies Policy