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Conductive and Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) flooring are used on floors in facilities that need protection for stray static discharges. One example of static discharge is when you walk across a carpet in a very dry room in winter then touch a metal object or another person you get that little electrical zap. Most people find this a bit of nuisance. However if you touch a hard drive or a circuit board and create that same discharge you can damage it beyond repair. Worse yet if you get a static discharge in a chemical or munitions plant where there might be a potentially explosive environment the results can be a catastrophic explosion.

What is ESD Versus Conductive?

Conductive floors have between 100,000 and 1,000,000 ohms of resistance. Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) floors have between 1 million and 1 billion ohms of resistance. Remember Ohms Law:

where I is the current through the conductor in units of amperes, V is the potential difference measured across the conductor in units of volts, and R is the resistance of the conductor in units of ohms. More specifically, Ohm’s law states that the R in this relation is constant, independent of the current.

Simply speaking the resistance is the ohms of resistance that we are talking about above. The lower the ohms of resistance the stronger the conductive medium to conduct the static charge away. The lower the ohm of resistance the more efficiently the conductive/ESD flooring carries the static charge safely away. .This is one situation where the smaller the number the better.

How does Conductive and Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) flooring Work?

Think of your Conductive and Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) flooring as a grounding rod. A grounding rod is that metal rod that gets driven into the earth to increase the surface area coming in contact with the ground. You then attach your building ground or lightening rod to that grounding rod. The Conductive and Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) flooring is much like that. It makes the whole concrete surface that the Conductive and Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) flooring comes in contact with a large grounding plane, acting much like a grounding rod. In some facilities this effect is enhanced even more with the installation of grounding strips that the Conductive and Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) flooring connects to the grounding rod(s). .

Where do you use Conductive and Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) flooring?

Typically ESD flooring is used in areas to protect electronics. Conductive is more commonly used where there is the potential for an explosive environment. Most facilities that require ESD flooring can use conductive flooring as well. The reverse is typically not true. Facilities that require Conductive Flooring typically cannot use ESD flooring. The good news is that most Epoxy.com ESD flooring can be made to be conductive by first priming with Epoxy.com Product #671 Conductive Primer Sealer – www.epoxy.com/671.aspx.

Most Commonly Used Conductive and Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) flooring

Epoxy.com has a wide variety of conductive and ESD flooring systems. Product #671 –www.epoxy.com/671.aspx – for example can be applied with one coat as a primer and one coat as a top-coating creating a highly conductive flooring system at a very low cost.

Product #1ESD – www.epoxy.com/1esd.aspx – is available in 15 colors. It is 100% solids making it an ultra high solids bis-A epoxy floor coating designed to provide electrostatic control properties to various surfaces including concrete or other nonconductive substrates. The use of a conductive primer will transmit conductive readings through ESD (Electrostatic Dissipative) Epoxy Coating for ESD Flooring Epoxy.com Product #1 if applied no thicker than 15 mils.

Product #630 Conductive – www.epoxy.com/630conductive.aspx is a 100% solids epoxy Novolac chemical resistant conductive epoxy floor coating ideal for severe chemical and solvent storage requiring conductive and spark proof surfaces. Applied at a nominal 1/16”, Epoxy.com Product #630 Conductive Novolac Epoxy Chemical Resistant Conductive Floor Coating offers the superior chemical resistance of an Epoxy.com Novolac Epoxy Resin System while maintaining a conductive surface. It also is available in 15 colors

Epoxy.com Product #674 – Electrostatic Dissipative Urethane (ESD) Coating is a two component, Electrostatic Dissipative chemical resistant, polyurethane coating. The high gloss finish offers excellent abrasion resistance, chemical and stain resistance, and superior color retention. Epoxy.com Product #674 – Electrostatic Dissipative Urethane Coating can be used equally well on vertical or horizontal surfaces. It is ideal for concrete floors and walls in warehouses, storage facilities, aircraft hangars, animal housing, and vehicle maintenance facilities. Available in both clear and pigmented formulations, Epoxy.com Product #674 – Electrostatic Dissipative Urethane Coating can be used as a finish coating option for most Epoxy.com Flooring Systems.

Epoxy.com Product #675 Electrostatic Dissipating (ESD) Water Borne Epoxy Topcoat is a pigmented, water emulsion epoxy electro-static dissipative finish designed to have maximum penetration into concrete surfaces to provide high bond strength and adhesion. It has very low odor and can be used in occupied areas as a finish sealer in Thin-Film Electro-Static Dissipative Coating Systems.

Epoxy.com Product #676 Novolac Epoxy Chemical Resistant Conductive Floor Coating is a 100% solids – Zero (0) VOC epoxy Novolac Chemical resistant conductive (anti-sparking) epoxy flooring and floor coating system ideal for severe chemical and solvent storage requiring a chemically resistant conductive and spark resistant surface.

For help in selecting the right conductive flooring system for your application please call technical support at 352-533-2167 or email me at norm@epoxy.com.