What is static electricity?
Static electricity is a natural phenomenon where an electrical charge accumulates on the surface of materials until it eventually discharges through a path to ground.
Atoms naturally strive for a balance between protons and electrons — a neutral state. However, this balance can sometimes be disrupted:
- Positive charge: Occurs when an atom loses electrons, resulting in the formation of positive ions.
- Negative charge: Occurs when an atom gains electrons, leading to the formation of negative ions.
These imbalances generate electrostatic charges, which can interfere with and negatively affect industrial processes.
How is Static Electricity generated in industrial settings?
Static electricity commonly arises in industrial settings due to the transfer of electrons between materials, leading to electrostatic charge buildup. This can occur through several mechanisms:
- Contact and Separation: When two materials touch and then separate — as with a cylinder repeatedly striking a surface — one becomes positively charged and the other negatively.
- Friction: Processes like conveyor movement or materials sliding over rollers generate friction, which is a typical source of static electricity.
- Induction (External Influence): A charged object can induce an electrostatic charge in a nearby material without contact. This is especially relevant in the electronics industry, where even minimal discharges can damage sensitive components.
- Air Blowing: In cleaning processes using compressed air, it’s essential to filter and dry the air. Low humidity increases insulation, raising the risk of charge buildup on surfaces exposed to airflow.
Risks of static electricity in industrial settings
Static electricity can significantly reduce Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) by affecting:
- Availability: Electrostatic forces can cause jams and unplanned downtime.
- Performance: Machines may need to run at lower speeds to reduce charge buildup.
- Quality: Static attracts dust and contaminants and can damage sensitive components, increasing defect rates.
- Macroscopic static: Affects material handling and transport (e.g., jams, defective welds).
- Microscopic static: Impacts precision processes like electronics and painting (e.g., contamination, ESD damage).
Beyond productivity, static electricity poses safety risks, including potential electrostatic discharges to operators and even fire hazards.
How to control and discharge static electricity?
SMC Lietuva’s static electricity control solutions help reduce maintenance hours and machine downtime, thereby contributing to improved production process quality.
Our ionizers — including bar-type, nozzle-type, gun-type, and fan-type models — also ensure a safe working environment by eliminating shocks caused by static electricity.
Browse our catalog to find the antistatic solution that best suits your application.
Types of Static Control Solutions available at SMC
The SMC catalog includes ionizers, desktop duster boxes, electrostatic sensors, and antistatic tubing, offering solutions tailored to various conditions and application requirements.
Effectively remove static electricity from flat surfaces, especially in confined spaces. They easily adapt to different applications.
Designed to eliminate static charges from small parts or tight spaces, they are ideal for dust removal. Available in low-consumption and high-flow variants.
Lightweight and ergonomic, they are designed to eliminate static electricity and particles from products. A versatile solution suitable for different stages of the production process.
Help neutralize static charges present in the atmosphere around any processed part. They can be used without the need for incoming air.
Integrates three key processes: neutralization of static charges, dust removal, and dust collection — all using nozzle-type ionizers.
Our range of electrostatic sensors is specifically designed to measure and detect static electricity.
Designed to prevent the buildup of electrostatic charges.
With SMC’s wide range of static electricity control products, you will always find a solution tailored to your application — improving process quality, minimizing maintenance, and boosting the overall efficiency of your machines.
Industries that benefit from Static Control Products
These products are essential across a wide range of industrial sectors, including:
How to choose the right Static Control Solution?
Before making a choice, it is important to consider your process conditions and the type of application. The main factors to take into account are:
- Workpiece
- Generated static charge
- Installation distance
- Deionization time
- Application speed
Have questions about our static electricity control products? Ask our experts.
