Development of a Novel Measurement Setup to Study and Predict Electrostatic Discharges in Agitated Glass-Lined Vessels

Two glass lined reactors in a launch platform facility operated by Syngenta have been damaged during the crystallization of an organic compound due to electrostatic discharges. The goal of this work was to design and commission a novel setup to measure charges and currents generated by this slurry in a laboratory-scale reactor. An improved and more sophisticated setup was then proposed for possible implementation in Syngenta's own laboratories. With this novel setup, the electrostatic charging of stirred suspensions involving nonconductive solvents could be accurately measured in the context of a case study that involved the suspension that led to liner damages in the production facilities of Syngenta.