anon Earting Ee rit Earthing This Technical Measures Document refers to codes and standards applicable to earthing of plant. Related Technical Measures Documents include ‘¢ Hazardous area classification /flameproofing m1 ‘© Explosion relief a The relevant evel 2 Criteria are 5.2.1.11(64)¢ 6 and 5.2.1.13 "1 General principles Earthing can classified in two ways ‘© System earthing ‘* Equipment earthing ‘System earthing is essential to the proper operation of the system, whereas equipment earthing concerns the safety of personnel and plant. Akey function of equipment earthing is to provide a controllad method to prevent the build up of static. electricity thus reducing the risk of electical discharge in potentially hazardous environments. Generally a resistance to earth of less than 10° Wwill ensure safe dissipation of static electricity in al situations. Flammable liquids transfer ‘The major hazard involved with the transfer of flammable liquids is the bulld up of static due to charge separation with potential for discharge resulting in fre and subsequentloss of containment. Certain non-polar liquids can be charged, e.g hile flowing through pipelines. Detectable and hazardous charges must be expected ifthe specific resistance ofthe liquid exeeds 10° Wim. The potential for accumulation of static charges may strongly increase Ifthe liquid contains a non-miscible component or a suspended solid. Examples include: ‘© Crstallisation processes in toluene; ‘© Quantities of water in toluene, With the presence of second phase, velocities less than 1 mis should be employed. Measures that can be employed to reduce these hazards include: ‘+ Ensure that the pipe transferring the liquid is completely filed to exclude the formation of explosive mixtures; ‘+ Wherever possible ensure no contaminants solids are present: ‘ Utiise inert gas blanketing tse. gov.uklcomalsragechechmeaseathing hm wanon Earting ‘+ When transferring flammable liquids by’blowing across’ use an inert gas: ‘+ Avoid mechanical mixing or agitation of low conductviyliquids wherever possible: ‘¢ Use ofball valves with earthed metal spheres: ‘* Employlow tansfer velocities. For only partall filed pipes, or pipes which discharge into containers, the velocityis tobe limited as follows ‘© Forchargeable esters: maximum 10 mis; ‘+ For mineral oll producls (e.g. gasoline, petrol, kerosene, paralfn, jt fuel) and for other chargeable liquids {excluding carbon disulphide and ether): 240 |s0 |ao | 100 | 200 |400 | 600 70 |80|}36 30 |18 |13° | 10 £600 | 800 | 1100 | 1600 | 3600| 10000 | 17000 Wthese velocites are adhered to, no hazardous charges will be generated within homogenous liquids. But when. suspensions of crystals in non-conductive liquids are conveyed, hazardous charges may always be generated, even at velocities below 1 mis ‘* Forether and carbon disulphide in pipelines up to a diameter of 25 mm, the maximum velocity should not exceed ‘mis. Larger pipes require lower velocities; ‘# Ageneral rule for all homogeneous liquids (except carbon disulphide and ether) and all pipelines: at velocities below 1 més, no dangerous charges willbe generated; ‘# Flanges should be earth bonded; ‘+ Use sub-surface dip pipes or bottom entry filing when discharging into vessels; ‘Ensure regularinspection and testing of earth bonding. Powder transfer Further information can be found in the Technical Measures Document on Explosion Relief ‘61 Powder transfer can be carried outby several diferent methods ‘© Screw conveying; © Vacuum transfer; ‘© Pheumatic conveying: There are two distinct types of pneumatic conveying used for powder transfer, namely low pressure / dilute phase or high pressure / dense phase, Low pressure / dilute phase systems tend to employ high system velocities ranging from 10 to 25 ‘mis, whereas high pressure /dense phase systems tend to employ ow system velocities ranging from 0.25 to 2.5 mis. Intensive charging of the conveyed material and pipeline is possible during pneumatic powder transfer potentially resulting ‘+ Electostatic discharge between conducive parts (e.g. between metal flanges and a part of the steel structure of the building); tse. gov.uklcomalsragechechmeaseathing hm onanon Earting ‘+ Entrainment of considerable charges into receiving containers, Powders can be divided into tree groups depending upon the volume resistivity ofthe material of which the particles are composed. These groups are: ‘+ Low resistivty powders, e.g. metals having volume resistivities up to about 108 Wim; ‘¢ Medium resistivty powders, e.g, many organic powders, such as flour, having volume resistivities in the approximate range 10° W.m to 10° Wn: ‘+ High resistivly powders, e.g. certain organic powders, many synthetic polymers and some minerals, such as quartz having volume resistviies above about 10° Wm. Measures that reduce these hazards include: ‘+ Ensure pipelines used for pneumatic conveying are made from metal with good earth bonding. Resistance to ‘ground for all conductive components should be < 10 ohms; ‘© Ground all operators loading powder so that heir resistance to ground is < 1 x10® ohms; ‘+ Avoid use ofinsulating coatings on the inner surfaces of metal containers and pipelines; ‘+ Use plastic flanges with plastic transfer lines; ‘* Avoid use of coating or sheathing on pipelines constructed of insulating material '* Use antistatic plastic or paper bags in or around flammable gases, vapours or dusts having minimum ignition energies of <4 mJ; ‘* Discharge powder into the container or silo via intermediate loading equipment, e.g. cyclone fabricated from conductive material to reduce velocities and earth charge. (Altematively rotary valves, bag dump hoppers or scrall feeder systems can be employed), Offloading Stringent precautions are required to prevent accumulations of static electricity and to give protection against lighting. Standard copper stip (25 mm x3 mm section or equivalent) is usually employed for the main earthing system, This should be connected to at least one copper-earthing rod that has been tested and shown to have a total resistance to earth of <10 ohms. The operator should employa bulk loading and offloading procedure. This should include written instruction that state when offloading flammable liquids, the driver must frst connect he tanker to the earthing connection at the oftloading point. The electrically conducting discharge hose can then be connected to the liquid intake point on the storage. The electrical resistance between the two couplings on a flexble hose mustnotbe higher than 10° ohms, Temporary storage Before temporary storage is brought online for storage of flammable liquids or explosible powders, an assessment of earthing provision with associated earth testing should be undertaken. This should encompass the storage vessel and all supporting ancillary equipment. Flexible pipelines \Wnen fexble hoses are employed, measures that can be adopted include: ‘+ Where velocities exceed 1m/s hoses should be made of conductive material or non-conductive material with ‘embedded fine wire mesh. The mesh should be bended to the metal flanges or coupling ofthe hose; tse. gov.uklcomalsragechechmeaseathing hm ar