Abstract
To investigate electrostatic ignition hazards of commercial gasoline used in the gas station, experiments were conducted dealing with the minimum ignition energy(MIE) of several kinds of gasoline under the various temperature. The conductivity of gasoline that was required for an accurate risk assessment as well as the MIE were also examined. The solvent ignitability apparatus which can heat up the inside of the vessels up to $210^{\circ}C$ was used in this study. Four kinds of premium gasoline and four kinds of regular gasoline, differing with respect to the companies, were used as test specimens. The following results were obtained: (1) all gasoline specimens were so sensitive that even an electrostatic discharge with a very low energy, such as about 0.5mJ, could ignite them. The ignitability of premium gasoline was constant irrespective of the companies. On the other hand, the ignitability of regular gasoline was variable depending on the company. (2) The MIE of all specimens depended markedly on the temperature; in other words, an increase in temperature decreases the ignition energy value. (3) The conductivity values of all specimens were low. Those must be taken into consideration in electrostatic risk assessment.
