Measurement of Flowing Charges with an

Electrostatic Voltmeter
As presented at the IEEE Industry Applications Society 39th Annual Meeting

October 3 - 7, 2004

Seattle, Washington USA

By: Maciej A. Noras

TREK, INC.
11601 Maple Ridge Rd.
Medina, NY 14103 USA
www.trekinc.com

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 Measurement of flowing charges with an
electrostatic voltmeter
Maciej A. Noras
Trek, Inc.
11601 Maple Ridge Rd.
Medina, N.Y. 14103
Email: Maciej.Noras@trekinc.com

Abstract— This paper presents results of measurements of
voltages induced by electric charges flowing through a pipe. The
materials used to conduct the study were an electrophotographic
toner, glass microspheres, and aluminum oxide powder (Al2 O3 ).
These materials were transported pneumatically through the tube
under investigation. Voltages induced on the pipe by the flow of
charges were recorded with an electrostatic voltmeter (ESVM).
A total charge of each powder was measured before and after it
passed through the pipe. The ESVM was measuring the voltage
induced by charges carried by the flux of solid particles and
by the charges generated on the tube. Author was looking for
a correlation between the initial and final charge of the toner
and the ESVM voltage. As a result, method of flowing charges
measurement with the ESVM is proposed.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Measurements of electric charges in motion inside pipes are
of interest for many industries. Charges carried by a medium
through a pipe as well as charges induced on the pipe have
been extensively investigated [1]–[3]. This paper presents a
simplified, yet efficient, flowing charge measurement method,
utilizing an electrostatic voltmeter (ESVM). Initial tests were
carried out with an electrophotographic toner. A Faraday cup
was used to evaluate and interpret ESVM readings. Consider
a simplified representation of the toner particle flow presented
in Figure 1.
probe
r outside diameter 8 mm, total length 64 mm, the copper
a
q the ground electrode),
x
v • Mettler Toledo PR1203 scale, accuracy of ±1 mg
Fig. 1. Simple model.
The Coulomb potential V2 generated on the ESVM probe
by the moving charge q is:
q q 1
V2 = = √ (1)
4π0  · r 4π0  x + a2
2
The total charge influencing V2 , however, is a result of
charge carried by the flowing particles and the charge induced
on the pipe. The setup shown in Figure 2 allows for separation
of these two factors. The charge of the toner before and after it
flows through the pipe can be measured by use of two Faraday
cups. Knowing also the voltage displayed by the ESVM, it is
possible to evaluate the charging effects that take place in the
pipe in a qualitative way. Based on results of this evaluation,
a flowing charge measurement apparatus is proposed. This
kind of setup can possibly simplify in-line flowing charge
measurements for the benefit of various industrial applications
(i.e. electrophotography).
II. M EASUREMENT SETUP
A. Powder media used for tests
• 99.7% purity Al2 O3 with bulk resistivity of 1012 Ω · cm
and size between 5 and 10 µm,
• glass microspheres, 105-210 µm in diameter,
• two-component toner N20-02, Imaging Society of Japan,
toner concentration 5 ± 0.2 % wt., maximum Q/m ratio
of −18.2 ± 2.4 µC/g.
B. Equipment
• oscilloscope Tektronix TDS 5104B,
• Trek 210HS charge-to-mass ratio measurement system,
equipped with two electrometers,
• Trek electrostatic voltmeter with a speed of response of
5 ms per 10 V step voltage,
• A dielectric pipe made of phenolic epoxy ( volume
resistivity 1013 Ω · cm, surface resistivity 108 Ω, relative
dielectric permittivity  = 4.9, internal diameter 6 mm,
tape sensing electrode is at the distance of 20 mm from
The proposed test setup is shown in Figure 2. An electrostatic
voltmeter sensor was placed at the distance of 0.5 mm from
the 27 mm wide copper tape ring. The sensor size is Φ3 mm.
The ESVM was calibrated before each test. A two-component
toner was weighted and put into the Faraday cup 1. The
toner charge was measured. Next, the toner powder was drawn
through the pipe and collected in the Faraday cup 2. During
that process, the charge in both cups along with the ESVM
voltage were recorded. The Faraday cup 1 and 2 were weighted
to find the amount of powder which passed through the pipe.

IAS 2004 2714 0-7803-8486-5/04/$20.00 © 2004 IEEE


Fig. 2. Test setup.
The same procedure was repeated for glass microspheres and
Al2 O3 powder. The air volume flow rate was constant for all
experiments, and established at 28 l/min. All the tests were
conducted at 45-50 % RH and 20-22 o C.
III. R ESULTS
Fig. 3. Oscillogram of the induced voltage for the toner flowing through the
pipe, time scale 4 s/div, voltage scale 1 V/div.
It has been found that for the test setup as shown in Figure
2 there is no charging effect due to the air flux passing
through the pipe. Figure 3 presents a signal recorded by the
electrostatic voltmeter for 43 mg of toner particles flowing
through the pipe. Initially toner was not charged, and after it
IAS 2004
passed through the pipe it acquired a charge of 2 nC. Similar
Fig. 4. Oscillogram of the induced voltage for the glass beads flowing
through the pipe, time scale 400 ms/div, voltage scale 500 mV/div.
results were obtained for 91 mg of glass beads (Figure 4) and
8 mg Al2 O3 (Figure 5). Glass microspheres acquired a charge
of 4 nC and aluminum oxide of 1 nC, respectively. This gives
mass to charge ratio (Q/m) of 47 nC/g for toner, 44 nC/g for
glass beads, and 125 nC/g for Al2 O3 .
Fig. 5. Oscillogram of the induced voltage for the Al2 O3 flowing through
the pipe, time scale 2 s/div, voltage scale 200 mV/div.
IV. D ISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Results of experiments show that the tested powders, even
though initially not charged, became electrically charged dur-
ing their passage through the dielectric pipe. The electrostatic
2715 0-7803-8486-5/04/$20.00 © 2004 IEEE
voltmeter monitors voltage induced on the copper tape ring.
This voltage is the result of the flow of charges carried by the
toner and the air flux, as well as of the charges induced on the
surface of the pipe. Tests conducted with the air alone flowing
through the tube did not indicate that there was a charging of
the pipe due to the air flux. The majority of the powder was
sucked through the nozzle right after the pump was turned
on. This fact showed up on the oscillograms (Figures 3-5) as
initial voltage peaks. Figure 6 presents an expanded view of
that initial peak for not charged toner.
6
Two component toner flowing trough the dielectric pipe − expanded view
4
2 an electrostatic voltmeter.
voltage, [V]
electrode) as ∼ 125MΩ), C is the capacitance of the pipe, V20
is the voltage recorded by the ESVM after the time t, V2 is the
initial voltage remaining on the tube after the passage of the
powder particles through the pipe. Assuming that the equation
2 applies to this test, the capacitance of the test electrode is
calculated at 2.7 nF, using the values of voltages and time
provided by the oscillogram 3. The value of capacitance C
can be quickly verified using oscillograms shown in Figures
4 and 5. Calculated discharge times agree with values read
from these Figures. An electric charge induced on the detecting
electrode can be calculated using formula [4]:


q = 4π0  · v 2 t2 + r2 · V2 (t) (3)
Results of experiments presented in this paper indicate that the
charge created on the dielectric pipe due to flow of particles,
whether they are initially charged or not, can be observed with
R EFERENCES

0 [1] J. Gajewski, R. Kacprzyk, and J. Żuk, “Field mill and its aplication for
measuring the mass flow rate,” in Industry Applications Society Annual
Meeting - Conference Record, vol. 3. IEEE-IAS, 2-8 October 1993, pp.
−2 1769–1773.
[2] S. Matsusaka, H. Umemoto, M. Nishitani, and H. Masuda, “Electrostatic
charge distribution of particles in gas-solids pipe flow,” J. of Electrostat-
ics, vol. 55, pp. 81–96, 2002.
−4
[3] D. I. Armour-Chélu and S. R. Woodhead, “Comparison of the elec-
tric charging properties of particulate materials in gas-solids flows in
pipelines,” J. of Electrostatics, vol. 56, pp. 87–101, 2002.
−6 [4] J. Gajewski, “Continuous non-contact measurement of electric charges of
4.9 4.95 5 5.05 5.1 5.15 5.2
time, [s] solid particles in pipes of pneumatic mathematical models of a method,”
in Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting - Conference Record.
Fig. 6. Expanded oscillogram of the induced voltage for the toner flowing IEEE-IAS, 1-5 October 1989, pp. 1958–1963.
through the pipe.

The oscillogram shows voltage oscillation caused, most

probably, by the transfer of charge between the pipe wall and
flowing particles as the powder collides with the wall. At the
same time the electrometer 2 recorded a rapid increase in the
collected charge value. The voltage then reversed quickly its
polarity and relatively slowly decayed toward zero. This effect
was most probably due to the charge created on the pipe by the
passing toner (combination of tribocharging and induction).
The charge induced on the sensing copper ring electrode was
then quickly dissipated and/or neutralized, as shown in Figures
3-5). The voltage displayed by the ESVM after the discharge
was found to be fairly stable at a fixed level, and the charge
indicated by the electrometer 2 remained constant. This could
mean that there were no powder particles flowing through
the tube, even though the air was still flowing through the
pipe. When the airflow was turned off, there was no change
in the voltage displayed by the ESVM. This voltage decay
characteristic, recorded after particles went through the tube,
can possibly be characterized by a well known dependence:
t
V20 = V2 · e− RC , (2)
where R is the resistance between the test electrode and
ground (and its value was calculated from the geometry of the
pipe (resistance between the sensing electrode and the ground

IAS 2004 2716 0-7803-8486-5/04/$20.00 © 2004 IEEE