The German government tells the Plastics in Automotive Fuel Systems conference

The German government tells the Plastics in Automotive Fuel Systems conference

The German government is calling for anti-static features in cars to prevent fires occurring during refuelling. In Japan eight fires were started between April 2001 and June 2002 when electrostatic charges on people ignited fuel at petrol stations. Two such fires occur every year in Germany, the PTB federal government physical technical office said.

Speaking at EPN’s and PRW’s Plastics in Automotive Fuel Systems conference in Frankfurt yesterday, Dr Ulrich von Pidoll of the PTB said a number of measures could be considered to reduce the incidence of fires. These include anti-static PE tanks, filling plastic tanks with metal wool, anti-static seating, and the use of metal instead of plastic door handles.

He said companies such as RTP and Ciba-Geigy offer anti-static PE granulate; the plastics industry must find a way of preserving adequate mechanical properties when processing PE petrol tanks containing carbon-black. Jцrg Schnцrr of Basell disputed von Pidoll’s claim that a PE tank with carbon-black additive would have similar properties to a conventional PE tank.

“We use 10% carbon-black in compound made for filler pipes and injection mouldings and it’s the right compromise between anti-static and mechanical properties. But we would never recommend it for fuel tanks. And adding anti-static masterbatch at the processing machine we think is dangerous, as we use special compounding just top get adequate dispersion”.