How was this technology developed? The fabric of the Static Eliminator Dryer Sheets was originally invented to help save lives...
On December 22nd, 1977, the eyes of the state of Louisiana, as well as the eyes of the nation were fixed on the small town of Westwego when a two hundred and fifty-foot grain elevator exploded spectacularly, taking the lives of thirty-six workers just three days before Christmas.
The cause of the explosion was grain dust. During the early morning hours at the Continental Grain Company's facility, a high concentration of the volatile dust ignited from a spark that occurred in the grain elevators head house. Within milliseconds, additional grain dust combusted, causing multiple explosions within the adjacent silos that virtually destroyed the facility. The head house fell a hundred feet onto an adjoining cinder block building full of employees. The incident in Westwego remains the deadliest grain dust explosion of the modern era.
How did our dryer sheets help solve this problem...?
THE SCIENCE OF A GRAIN DUST EXPLOSION
For a dust explosion to occur, several factors must come together, according to Dust Explosions in Process Industries by Rolf K. Eckhoff. First, there must be fuel, or grain dust. The dust concentration contributes to the dust’s flammability. The lower explosive limit is generally reached only in areas near grain handling and processing equipment, and not usually in areas where employees actually work. Also, the dust must be in suspension in order for an explosion to take place; dust that is simply lying on the ground is not an imminent threat. The moisture content of the dust is also important. The drier the dust, the higher the risk of ignition.
The second major factor is the presence of oxygen, which is necessary for combustion.
The third major factor is the ignition source. Sparks from welding and cutting equipment, or cigarettes, can ignite dust. A choked bucket elevator, a conveyor belt slipping, an electrical malfunction, or lightning could also start a fire leading to an explosion. But the most silent and hidden culprit - static electricity. Ignition can occur from a single static electric spark.
Finally, in order for an explosion to occur, the ignition must take place within an confined space. An explosion is defined as the tremendous pressures built up and released instantaneously, an explosion can not take place in an open area. However, a dangerous flash fire could result.
It is also important to recognize that there are two major types of dust explosions: the primary explosion and the secondary explosion. The primary dust explosion is initiated by an ignition source. Secondary explosions occur when the blast wave from a primary explosion propagates and causes layers of dust in other areas to become suspended in air. Dust suspension by the primary explosion is extremely flammable. It can be ignited by the primary dust flame within microseconds of each other.
What area of the factory is the perfect storm for all the above factors? Dust, in a high concentration, dry, with oxygen, suspended, in a confined space? The air filtration system. To solve this problem, we developed a filtration fabric that would filter all the dust particulates our of the air returning to the factory space while at the same time removing the static charge, dramatically reducing the chances of another catastrophe like Westwego.
This patented, proprietary filter fabric is reusable and washable, and while laundering our customer's filter bags we realized that there was also no static build up in the dryers... and the Static Eliminator Re-Usable Dryer Sheet was born.
The Static Eliminator Dryer Sheet System is proudly manufactured and distributed from our family owned company, Maddocks Holdings Limited, in Guelph and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Maddocks is a well respected company with a long history of supplying high quality filtration products for industrial and commercial uses all over the world. Maddocks is ISO 9001:2000 registered, and 35 years strong, with the capabilities to ship anywhere in the world.
Static Eliminator is a proud sponsor of breast cancer recovery.
The Lebed Method
