Flash-fire incidents occurred during multiple types of operations, including maintenance on a control panel when natural gas was being vented, flammable fluids being drained into a bucket, or flammable liquids being transferred between containers.
A static discharge can occur when an electrical charge accumulates on the surfaces of two materials, one with a positive charge and the other with a negative charge, that make contact and are separated. It can occur between two solids, between a solid and a liquid, or between two non-mixable liquids. The heat generated from a static discharge is between 3,000F and 6,000F, creating enough energy to start a fire regardless of the flashpoint of hydrocarbon-based fluids.
Safely discharging the accumulation of static electricity requires bonding and grounding of any conductive equipment with the potential to produce electricity.