Characteristics and hazards of electrostatic discharges in air

Abstract

Abstract In the assessment of electrostatic hazards in the process industries, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on the determination of energies in spark discharges. There are, however, other electrostatic discharge phenomena where this approach has severe limitations. The purpose of this paper is to describe the state-of-the-art with respect to electrostatic discharges in gases (air). An in depth review of the literature has been made, and the various types of discharges are tabulated and discussed.