Simulation of Electrostatic Cone Discharge in Propellant Production Process

Electrostatic cone discharge is an important discharge type causing propellant explosion. In order to study the discharge rule in the production process, the ANSYS finite element model is used to simulate the electrostatic field in the storage and transport hopper of the single-base gun propellant based on Gauss theorem of electrostatic field, and the simulated results are compared with the experimental results. The distribution of electrostatic field and its variation with the thickness of single-base gun propellant are simulated. Results show that the largest electric field intensity is at the bottom of the single-base gun propellant hopper, and the electric field intensity on material surface is minimum.The maximum potential appears in the inner of material, rather than on the material surface. When the material thickness is 0.05 m, the maximum field intensity at the bottom of is 6.92×10⁶ V/m, which is greater than the air breakdown strength. This shows that the electrostatic cone discharge may happen at the bottom of the hopper when the hopper is just tank filled with propellant. The electric field intensity in hopper also increases with the increase in the thickness of material. When the propellant thickness is increaseed to 0.29 m, the maximum field intensity at the bottom is increased to 1.41×10⁷ V/m, the field strengths on side wall and material surface also increase, the cone discharge is more frequent, and the fire risk of propellant is greater.