Electric currents and potentials resulting from the flow of charged liquid hydrocarbons through short pipes

Th e elec tri cal c urre nts and pote ntials produced in pipes of intermedi ate and very hi gh resistiviti es, by th e fl ow of a c harged liquid hydrocarbon have bee n investigated .Th e maximum pip e c urrents to the ground we re in th e range 1 to 6 microampe res.De pe nding upon th e electri cal resistan ce of th e p ipes, these c urre nts produced pote ntials ran gin g from esse ntiall y zero to valu es in excess of 30,000 volts whi c h we re suffi cie ntly severe to cause electri cal breakdo wn and arcs within so me of the pipes unde r investi ga ti on.It is conclud ed that haza rdou s pipe pote ntial s, res ulting from s tati c elec• tn clty,can be elimin ated in practi cal applica tion s if the elec tri cal res ,stance from eac h and a ny porti on of the IIlt erlO r surface of t he pipe to th e ground does not exceed about 107 ohms.Key Word s : Breakdown, c ha rged liquid hydro carbon s, c har gin g te nd e ncy, c harge se paratio n, c urre nt , filt ers, inne r lin er, pe trol e um liquids , po tential, relaxati on, res is tance, stati c electri cit y, te traAuoroethyle ne tubin g.