SAFETY EVALUATION OF ANTISTATIC FLEXIBLE INTERMEDIATE BULK CONTAINER HAVING NONCONDUCTIVE INNER BAG

In order to prevent fire and explosion hazards due to electrostatic di scharges when unloading powder from a flexible intermediate bulk conta iner (FIBC), a variety of anti-static FIBCs, some include an inner bag , were tested using a full scale experimental apparatus. The effective ness of conductive, low-resistance and conductive fibre threaded FIBCs were investigated. The last FIBC with or without a non-conductive inn er bag was found to be effective for reducing charge accumulation not only on the body itself but also on the content discharging from it. I t was also clarified that the surface charge density being generated o n a non-conductive inner bag during an emptying operation can reach ab out 100 mu C/m(2) which meets the condition for a propagating brush di scharge (250 mu C/m(2)) to occur. However, no evidence of such a disch arge was found to occur.