Let’s say you are a Plant Manager of a company that uses electronic circuits and technology to make a product. Now let’s say you are having problems caused by failures in the circuitry. What’s a possible cause of this?
It could be static electricity.
Most elementary school kids know about static electricity. They’ve seen their hair stand on end after sliding down the slide at the playground. They know what happens when they scrub their feet on carpets and then touch a friend. It’s quite “shocking”.
How does it happen?
Do you remember from school that all things are made up of atoms? The electrons, protons, and neutrons in the atom have charges. Most of the time, the electrons and protons are balanced. But the rubbing of certain materials against another material transfer negative charges, or electrons, from one material to the other creating an imbalance of extra electrons. When you touch someone, sometimes both of you get a shock from the release of those extra electrons. In more technical terms, it is an electrostatic discharge. It’s not magic!
Electrostatic discharges can create severe problems (and expensive ones) with the electrical components used in aircraft and automobiles, computers, machinery, electrical circuits, and a host of other electrical devices that use very sensitive electronic circuitry.
A catastrophic failure due to a destroyed circuit is most often discovered in quality control tests before the finished product leaves the assembly line. But a partial failure may pass the quality control tests and only show up in the actual condition that the product is used. A failure in a cars braking system or throttle could mean a tragedy for those in the car and for those on the roadway.
On a manufacturing floor, Electrostatic Dissipative Floor Coating Systems and Conductive Floor Coating Systems are just one of many tools used to avoid failures caused by electrostatic discharges to electronic circuitry. These floor systems dissipate or discharge static electricity through grounding systems in the work area that interface with the conductive floor on which employees work, walk, and stand.
These floor systems have been used for years in areas where flammable or explosive materials are handled or manufactured, but the use in electronic manufacturing facilities for the protection of electronic circuitry is a relatively new application.
For more information, you can request a specific application scenario for your facility’s floor from Blackwell’s Inc.
Blackwell’s Inc.
Specialized Industrial Cleaning, Concrete Coatings and Concrete Repair
LaGrange, GA
706-883-6239
