Static Electricity in Hazardous Area

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doug glasscock

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Can someone point me in the right direction for information about the protection against static electricity and grounding requirements in a Class 1-Division 1-Group D Area. (In the Code or any where else)?
 
Out of 32 People - and nothing??
Come-on... I have never known this crowd to NOT have SOME input.

This relates to an industrial company that uses alcohol in their process. There happened to be a metal rack in the clasified area that was not grounded and a guy mentioned the possibility of static electricity. It just got me thinking and I am trying to do some research on the subject.
 
I do not believe that the racking system would need to be grounded. I worked for a printing plant for years and helped with the initial setup of the explosion proof storage and mixing rooms. The main static issue is going to be from the dispensing of the alcohol into another container. If the are worried about static building up on the employee you could put in anti-static matting. None of the storage racks where ground from my recollection but we did install a grounding rod system for the barrel dispensing area of the storage room.

The real concern is in the actual transferring of chemicals.

Hope this helps.
 
This has come up before and its not an NEC issue, and thats why you don't have a lot of replies. Its a NFPA stardard, as static grounding is done at airports and such.
The FPN to 500.4 B gives NFPA 30 as a reference that may be the code you need.
 
muskiedog said:
I do not believe that the racking system would need to be grounded. I worked for a printing plant for years and helped with the initial setup of the explosion proof storage and mixing rooms. The main static issue is going to be from the dispensing of the alcohol into another container. If the are worried about static building up on the employee you could put in anti-static matting. None of the storage racks where ground from my recollection but we did install a grounding rod system for the barrel dispensing area of the storage room.

The real concern is in the actual transferring of chemicals.

Hope this helps.
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That is until someone starts mopping up a volatile mixture spilled on the floor with a cotton mop. May sound strange but I was in attendance for just such an event in a lacquer paint manufacturing plant a few years ago. As the mop passed by an ungrounded metal table, an arc occurred, igniting the freshly mopped area. It burned for a moment before anyone noticed the orange tips on the flames. If not grounded then isolated would be an option.
 
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