Electrostatic Discharges

Together with Syngenta the Scale-Down-Reactor was modified by B. Brönniman during his Bachelor Thesis in order to allow the measurements of electrostatic discharges.

Two glass lined reactors in a launch platform facility operated by Syngenta have been damaged during a crystallization-process of an organic compound due to electrostatic discharges. The goal of this thesis was to design and commission a unique setup to measure charges and currents generated by such suspensions in a laboratory-scale reactor. These measurements made it possible to then calculate and estimate resulting discharge energies. An improved and more sophisticated setup was then proposed for possible implementation in their own laboratories. With this novel setup, the electrostatic charging of stirred suspensions involving nonconductive solvents could be accurately measured in the context of a case study that involved the suspension that led to liner damages in the production facilities of Syngenta. The setup consisted of a glass-reactor, enclosed in a faraday-cage. On the outside of the reactor, an electrically conductive layer was applied that allowed the connection of a charge meter. The interior of the reactor contained several components, most notably the stirrer and an electrode that was connected to an amperemeter.

The results of the project is summarized within the following publications: