Black Powder and static electricity

[Roy Cobb]

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/mlexperiments/sparks/sparks.html

Got this from another forum and thought it should be posted over here too this has been tossed around for a while, I have mentioned and others have as well that the worries about Static electricity and BP are a bit unfounded. and as most things in society are a CYA for the lawyers.

[Charlie Detroit]

I think you need more amps to get the stuff to go off...

[ButlerFord45]

I'm sure most of  the folks here know "Old Scout" from the SASS Wire. this is a copy of a portion of a post he made some time ago:

    Mr. Mike Farhinger
                                                                                                                                                Goex, Inc.
                                                                                                                                                 Belin Plant, Moosic, PA
 
 
 
Muzzleloader Magazine
Editor
Rebel Publishing Co., Inc

Sir:

   Static electricity is always a topic of conversation within the explosive industry. Black Powder is a ”low explosive” as opposed to “high explosive” like TNT, but is nevertheless dangerous when mishandled or when proper safeguards are ignored. Believe me, safety is always on our minds.

   I have read reports on several studies concerning the ability of static electricity to ignite Black Powder. Most were conducted for the military. Keep in mind, that materials behave differently under different conditions, e.g. enclosed vessels, open vessels, varying temperatures and humidity, etc., and that no experiment can test for every combination of variables. But all the studies came to the same basic conclusions within the realm of the conditions they did test for: static electricity can ignite Black Powder, but only at very high levels of electrostatic induction as measured in Joules—between 8 and 20 Joules generally. I don’t want to get to technical, so the point is, normal human activity cannot generate this kind of charge.

   We take some ordinary precautions at the plant. All of our equipment is grounded and the building is grounded. We also treat some of the plastic bags we use with anti-static compound, but that’s about the extent of it.

   The fact, is we have never had an incident in our plant related to static electricity in over 90 years of production.  
 
 

                             The above is an excerpt from a longer document.  Old Scout

[Robert]

Learned that one the hard way....those old roads that run the power lines, great place to go shooting......NOT WITH A SMOKEPOLE.  A few years back, I had a sealed full pound of pyrodex sitting on my hood, I shot my rifle about ten feet away in the opposite direction, and the entire bottle went off like a pillar of enormous flame, I fell on my ass in a mud puddle.

[howdy doody]

Hey ho Robert, could you expound on what was the cause of your pyrodex going off. Was it from heat from the engine or are you saying something about firing your weapon near it did that? I am very confused and would like to know more of the  gory sounding details, if you would. Thanks pard.

[J.W.Neely]

What did your hood look like afterwards?
sheesh......had to leave a mark!

[Robert]

The windsheild was blue but it washed off.  This was underneath a major power line coming from a dam, I am sure it carries massive amounts of electricity.  The hood of the car was warm, but not enough to set it off, it was cold outside, but not enought to freeze the puddle,(sometimes cold can generate static), I seriously beleive that the percussion of the shot combined with the static in the air is what touched it off.  I dont smoke, so it wasnt from a cigarette.  I know a vehicle is supposed to be free from static, supposedly safe in an electrical storm, or in case of downed power lines, but just for example, last week I was helping a freind spray paint his truck...when I was inside of the truck bed with the sprayer, every time I got near any metal I got nailed real good from static, and I was wearing sneakers, if it is strong enough to hurt, I am sure it is strong enough to arc and make a spark.

[Roy Cobb]

You know Robert that little spark while spraying paint is about as dangerous as one near BP but I have a story about a similar occurance involving "Lectricity" and flammables, Had a friens who swore he could minimize overspray by using an arc welder to energize the gun (old bottom feeder) and car with a difference in potential and have electro deposited paint! a good plan hook the ground on the chassis and the stinger on the gun, all went well and the paint went on smoothly until medium wet coat number 3 whereupon the gun came close enough to something metal to generate an arc! the spray lit up like a torch, thereby igniting the medium wet surface material and ultimately the whole car
when you release the trigger to stop the fluid flow the Air blew out the source flame the Exhaust fans in the booth carried out the smoke but the heat was enough to set off the sprinkler system in the booth! I was lucky enough to witness this first hand a true sight to behold! I never would have believed it had I not seen it with my own teared up laughter creased eyes. The car was a total loss but the booth survived, the painter was out of work last I heard. while not a static spark it is a funny incident!

[Robert]

Best thing I have heard in a while.