Static Electricity

Hello ndecks,

A ground strap will discharge only the immediate area it touches. HDPE is a good insulator and so the static charge on the rest of the chute stays put, even if a ground strap is attached. To discharge the chute overall you will need to make the entire surface slightly conductive. This will allow the charge from remoter parts of the chute to travel over the surface to the ground strap.

A simple way to make the surface conductive is to lightly spray the chute with a fine water mist prior to taking it down. What comes to mind is the type of mist nozzles you can find at a good nursery or landscaping outfit. Attach one of these to a hose and give it a try.

You might also call the chute manufacturer to see if they (or someone else) sells conductive chutes. Static discharges are a real problem where bulk sugar, flour and other finely divided matter is present in the form of dust. In sufficient quantities fine sugar dust can be highly explosive. Granaries also have problems with static-induced dust explosions. All of these use outfits use chutes of some form or another, and they must not generate static.

For plastic chutes, usually the plastic is coated with a conductive finish. Other types of plastics used in explosive environments contain embedded carbon or very fine metal fibers to conduct the charge away. This is not a new problem, and I'm sure a number of chute mfrs. have already addressed it.

Meanwhile, try misting the chute. This should bleed off the charge nicely.