History

People have dealt with and managed the problems of static electricity for hundreds of years. For example, early military forts, dating back to the 1400's, implemented static control procedures when dealing with black powder to prevent ignition from electrostatic discharge (ESD). As early as the 1860's, paper mills throughout the U.S. utilized basic grounding and flame ionization techniques to dissipate static electricity from steam drums and paper webs during the drying process. When the U.S. Navy sent the first nuclear submarine below the North Pole in the 1950's, topical antistats were used to reduce static electrical influences on the navigational equipment. Through the years, electrical devices became smaller and faster, thus, more susceptible to the damaging effects of static. In order to assure continued proper functioning of electrical devices, the Navy required some form of electrostatic control. As a result of the Navy's mandates, static control awareness increased throughout the world. Subsequently, the static control industry developed products and devices in order to control static electricity/electrostatic discharge.

Definitions
According to Grolier's Electronic Encyclopedia,

STATIC ELECTRICITY is electricity at rest or the accumulation of electric charge, as opposed to an electric current which is the movement of electricity. The flow or movement of people and/or materials in and through the environment causes separation and therefore static electricity. A familiar example of static electricity is when a person walks across a carpeted floor. Static electricity/electrostatic charge is generated simply by the contact and separation of the soles of that individual's shoes from the carpeted floor. ELECTROSTATIC DISCHARGE (ESD) occurs when the electrostatic charge is transferred from a material that carries the charge to an electrostatic sensitive device. In the example above, this electrostatic discharge is the "shock" felt after walking across the carpeted floor and then touching a door knob. It is this electrostatic discharge, which comes in varying degrees, that can be most damaging to electrical devices and other industrial, commercial, and consumer products.

Examples of Static Electricity & ESD

Static electricity, a natural phenomenon, and consequently electrostatic discharge are the primary causes of a myriad of problems affecting industry, business and personal life. These problems can be as simple as the shock resulting from walking across a carpet; as costly as the destruction of sensitive electronic components or jamming of machinery; and as dangerous as the ignition of combustible vapors, powders or dust. Typical problems caused by static..... The attraction of dirt, dust and bacteria to all environmental surfaces, as well as to products and product packages. Damage or destruction of sensitive electronic components and subassemblies during manufacture, testing, packaging, shipping or receiving. Computer and electronic office equipment data errors, memory loss, system failures and other 'glitches'.

Charge generation on surfaces of tote boxes and carriers used to process and store electronic components can create a potential for discharge. Jamming or slipping of paper, plastics or other material during printing, packaging or converting. Ignition of combustible vapors, dust or solvents, causing fire or explosion. Irregularities caused by static in high quality printing, heat sealing, silk screening, lamination and other applications. Work benches and production surfaces in electronic manufacturing and repair facilities will triboelectric charge components, assemblies, or their handling containers in contact and separation with a surface thereby creating a discharge.

Facts About Static Electricity

1. Almost any material can generate static electricity. The ability to store or dissipate the charge depends on the type of material. 2. Static can damage devices, which can result in immediate product failure to operate. In contrast, static damage can go undetected for a period of time and the results are product failure once the product is in service. 3. Electrostatic fields are associated with charged objects. 4. The degree of severity of ESD events is contingent upon the type of discharge which occurs. The three most common ESD charge transfers are: from an external object to the device from a device to another object resulting from electrostatic fields

Electrical Characteristics of Materials

In order to understand how to control the generation of static electricity and the prevention of electrostatic discharge, one must know the different electrical characteristics of materials that can generate static electricity. There are three varying degrees of electrical resistance. INSULATIVE An Insulative material does not allow for the flow of electrons across or through its bulk. In this case, the material has a high electrical resistance. (Examples include mica and rubber.) STATIC DISSIPATIVE Although static electricity can be generated on this type of material, this material allows the transfer of electrons to ground or other conductive objects. This material has a lower electrical resistance than an Insulative material. (Examples include medium conductive resin loads and topical anti-stats.) CONDUCTIVE Conductive material allows a charge to flow across the surface or through its volume easily. Thus, conductive materials have a low electrical resistance.(Examples include shielded bags, foils, metal.)

Five Basic Rules For ESD Control

(As defined by the ESD Association.) 1. Define the boundaries of the environment in which unprotected electrostatic sensitive devices will be present. This is the ESD protective area. 2. Define the sensitivity of devices to be handled in the ESD protective area. 3. Do not contaminate the area with unnecessary non-static controlled materials. 4. Establish a suitable static control program that both limits static generation to less than the damage threshold of the most sensitive device in the environment, and provides a safe, defined path for the dissipation of static charges. 5. Audit the ESD protective area regularly to ensure that static control is maintained. Document the findings for future reference.

Conclusion
The natural occurrence of static electricity and electrostatic discharge is the invisible enemy. Static and electrostatic discharge attacks any business from plastics fabrication to electronics manufacturing and other high tech industries. Even computer users are not safe from damaging effects of static. It is estimated that billions of dollars are lost from the daily system or manufacturing interruptions caused by static. An effective static control program not only requires you to guard your business or computer against static before it strikes, but also after static related problems have occurred. ACL Staticide Incorporated has a variety of anti-static products that will eliminate static discharge thereby saving companies considerable sums of money.