Why is Static Control Necessary in Manufacturing?

Static control is critical because when static charges accumulate on sensitive products, work surfaces, equipment, or individuals, the result can be destructive. Products can become contaminated, processes may degrade, and a long list of other issues, sometimes mysterious, could arise.

• Particle Contamination: The personnel entering a clean room bring in a vast amount of particles into the manufacturing process. In addition to the considerable variety of particles naturally generated by humans (such as skin and hair shedding), floor particle samples starkly illustrate this.

• Electrostatic Attraction (ESA): Particles suspended in the air become charged through constant collisions with other particles and objects in the clean room. With each collision, electrons are exchanged, creating particles with positive or negative electrostatic charges. The larger the particle, the greater the electron exchange and charge. Particles can move at high speeds and adhere with high bonding energies, making them difficult to remove.
• Electrostatic Discharge (ESD): With many new products using sensitive electronic components with active sensors, the likelihood of latent failures is increasing. As the critical dimensions and tolerances of components and circuits continue to decrease, they become less tolerant to ESD. In circuits designed to operate at lower voltages, even minimal charge levels can cause damage or destruction to a device.

Methods for Controlling Electrostatics

Completely eliminating electrostatic from production environments is often a challenge. One crucial factor in selecting the right method is whether the material is conductive or insulating. Electrostatics can be easily controlled on conductive materials if the object can be grounded. Grounding provides a path for the charge to migrate to or from the ground. When a conductor is grounded, all its charges are neutralized, and it remains at ground potential. However, grounding doesn't work for insulating materials, as charge does not migrate.

Air Ionization: Conductive Air

Air ionization is increasingly used to control or neutralize static charges in crucial clean room environments. Ionizers make the air conductive enough to dissipate static charges from both insulating materials and isolated conductors.

All air ionization systems release both positive and negative ions into the atmosphere. When ionized air comes into contact with a charged surface, the surface attracts ions of the opposite polarity. As a result, the static electricity accumulated on products, equipment, and surfaces is neutralized.

Generally, air has high insulating properties, with resistivity greater than 10¹⁵ ohms/meter. By increasing the number of ions in the air, the resistivity can be reduced to 10¹¹ ohms/meter, enhancing air conductivity. Conductive air can neutralize static charges on any surface it contacts. The field from a charged surface attracts ions of the opposite polarity until the surface's charge is neutralized.

Bipolar Ionization

There are various ways to create and supply bipolar air ionization, and there may not be a "one-size-fits-all" method for all situations. The decision about which method is most suitable depends on the environment, the problem to be solved, and the nature of the work being performed in the area.

• Alternating Current (AC): High voltage is applied to a series of emission points placed nearby, alternating between negative and positive polarity at line frequency (50/60 Hz). AC technology is used in grids, ionized air blowers, guns, and bars.
• Constant DC: This method provides separate emission points for each polarity. Positive high voltage is continuously applied to half of the emission points, while negative high voltage is continuously applied to the other half. Constant DC current is used in clean rooms, laminar flow booths, ionized air blowers, and ionizing guns.
• Pulsed DC: Positive and negative emission points are alternately activated and deactivated, creating clouds of positive and negative ions. Pulsed DC is used in uncontrolled or aseptic rooms, as well as in clean rooms and laminar flow booths.
• Nuclear: Designed for use in bars, guns, and ionizing blowers, these often contain Polonium-210 as a radioactive source. The radioactive decay of Polonium emits alpha particles that ionize the air.
• X-rays: Designed for use within production equipment, these use soft X-rays (4.9-9 keV) to ionize the air. As X-rays pass through the air inside a production tool, they ionize the air along a path of about one meter. No airflow is required to disperse ions from the ionizer.

Solutions for Static Control

Static control through air ionization maintains the integrity of components and subassemblies during the manufacturing process or transportation to final testing and assembly. Simco Ion offers ionizing blowers to enhance product performance and quality.

Overhead Blowers:

Efficiently designed to provide superior static charge elimination across the entire work surface. Available in a variety of options: multi-fans, heated blowers, or cleanroom blowers, for different applications.

Compact Blowers:

Small and efficiently designed to control static discharge in hard-to-reach areas, confined spaces, assembly areas, inspection, and packaging. These ionizers perform with the same sophistication as large ionizers.

Benchtop Blowers:

Reliable and fast static charge control for bench work areas and confined spaces, allowing optimal electrostatic management that minimizes costs and maximizes protection in ESD-sensitive areas.

Guns / Nozzles / Cartridges:

Ionizing air guns, nozzles, and cartridges are ideal for spot applications, eliminating contaminants and static charges.