Static Bonding

Intro:

Static bonding is the equalization of static charges through the use of a static bonding system.  These systems can be as simple as a steel rope wire or copper wire or an intelligent monitoring system going from the source vessel to the target vessel. An intelligent monitoring system is the best way to go because you don't have to check the connection with an ohm meter to ensure you have a good connection on the source vessel, target vessel or to the ground connection. In all cases static bonding or sometimes just called bonding is required by law in a lot of areas and you should check your local laws. If you are a manager or foreman you should ensure the equipment is in good working order and that personnel are using that equipment properly. With insurance companies they like to see that you are proactive and not reactive to static bonding. There have been more than enough instance's to back being proactive.

Problems:

NOTE: There are 2 camps when it comes to static bonding; there is the electrical camp and the electronic camp, each has there own theory of how static bonding should be done. The electrical camp says that the bond should be 10 ohms or less and the electronic camp says it should be 1 Megohm. The electronic camp says that the discharge of the static build up should be done slower to prevent a spark discharge. To me the one to use depends on the situation. If there is no static build up and one is going to transfer say a liquid then =< 10 ohms is fine but, if a person has a build up already then the 1 Megohm is better. Which one you use is up to you, choose wisely. What's the difference between the 2? Well it all goes back to the around the beginning of the 19th century (1800s). When humans first started started working with electricity and they did not understand nor did they have the equipment to see what was actually going on with molecules. They use too and still do think that current travels from positive to negative. They thought that there were only positive charges (an abundance of charge) and negative charges or (less of a charge) so current had to flow from positive to negative, more charge to less charge (HOLE MOVEMENT). In the 1870's English chemist and physicist Sir William Crookes discovered that in fact current flowed from negative to positive or an abundance of electrons (negative charge) to a less abundant electron charge (a more positive charge)(ELECTRON MOVEMENT). So here we are in the 21st century and electricians and most of the world still believe in the electrical theory that current flows from positive to negative, a 150 years later, amazing. In electronics we know current flows from negative to positive or a more negative charge to a less negative charge but, we also believe in hole movement. Electrons move from hole to hole so, we have hole movement that flows from a less negative charge to a more negative charge. The reason I brought all this up is because we have the 2 beliefs, electronic and electrical, the 2 beliefs also treat static in 2 different ways. The static charge bleeds off so quickly that the speed with which it bleeds off can be hazardous by creating large discharge sparks. Oh by the way, if current flowed form positive to negative then TV's, microwave ovens, RADAR, CRT's, and so on would not work.

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