static ground

[puckman]

We have some flammable storage cabinets and LP holding cages . Would bonding them to building steel that is attached to the buildings ground grid offer protection against static electricity . Maybe this is not the correct way? Is there a better way ?

 

[benaround]

puckman,

I don't see how that would remove the charge from a person ?

 

[puckman]

I always though if you grounded lets say a 55 gallon drum of a flammmable liquid it would not let a static charge build up on it and any static charge would be brought to ground .

 

[ohmhead]

Well the charge can be you at a different level then the grounded tank or drum so when you make contact you will pass the gap and a spark can be made .

Grounding personnel straps are used in some areas of high flash areas around gas or high pressure fuels and such .

 

[sgunsel]

For a good background in static electricity, see NFPA 77. Storage cabinets are typically not grounded since static electricity is not generated during storage. Of course this only applies to the containers in the cabiinet and if there is dispensing of any kind it is no longer storage. Personnel can become charged simply by walking across the floor and by other activities, and may need preventive measures. A charged person approaching a cabinet or container at a different potential, grounded or not, can create a spark. If you can see it or feel it, it is probably incendive and capable of igniting a combustible vapor/gas in air when within the flammable limits. Grounding for static dissipation should be less than 1 megohm (!) to ground and any wire you can buy, even 40 AWG, will be of sufficient ampacity. Assuring mechanical integrity, however, requires something more robust.