Laboratory of Static Electricity

The basis of the Laboratory's activities is research into air ionisation, electric properties of aerosols and electrostatic air filtration by Zygmunt Grabarczyk, Ph.D. During the initial period, the Laboratory’s activities were two-fold: research into the electrostatic properties of atmospheric aerosols was continued, and technical facilitation of research into electrostatic hazards at workplaces was commenced. At present, the main research area is the facilitation of anti-electrostatic protection and the assessment of risk of explosive atmosphere ignition by electrostatic discharges. Eight research and development projects have been carried out in the last 10 years, as well as several expert studies and research for domestic and foreign companies including Airbus.

The Laboratory participates in the work of Technical Committee no. 143 of the Polish Committee for Standardisation on Static Electricity, Technical Committee no. TC 101, Electrostatics, of the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC), and in the management of the Polish Committee on Electrostatics SEP (with respect to electrostatic hazards). The Laboratory works on the application of computer methods to assess the risk of incendiary electrostatic discharges. The methods and instruments developed have been used to study potential increases of aerosol pollutants deposition in the human respiratory tract as a result of the electrostatic effect of electric charge attraction to conductive objects (the ‘effect of image forces’). They were used to test a hypothesis by British researchers regarding the potential carcinogenic impact of high-voltage power lines on the increase of aerosol pollutants deposition in the respiratory tract caused by their picking up static because of discharges between line cables. It has been proven that the increased concentration of charged particles is too low to cause a statistically significant increase in depositions.

Moreover, research was carried out into the average charge level of fresh industrial aerosols in order to assess the possibility of increasing aerosol deposition in the respiratory tract as a result of the electrostatic effect of ‘image forces’. The ineffectiveness of widely available electric tabletop air ionisers in air purification has been demonstrated. The measurements, calculations and literature analysis have shown that air ionisation (light aeroions dispersed in air) has no significant impact on human health.