Abstract
Dust explosions caused by electrostatic discharge sometimes occur due to static electrification of powder during the pneumatic conveyance of powder and dust collection, and induce accidents to workers, e.g. burn injuries. This paper reports a method for detecting a precursory discharge inside a duct or silo. For the purpose of detection, induced voltages in a loop antenna were measured when electrostatic discharges occurred inside the corresponding metal duct. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that a corona discharge could be detected by the voltage induced in the loop antenna. It was also found that the antennas may need to be spaced at about 1 meter intervals in order to detect the corona discharges.
