Análise de potencial eletrostático pelo método de expansão em séries

Abstract

The handling of liquid fuel can undergo an physical phenomenon known as triboelectric charging, which electrically charges the fuel during the storage and can lead to accidental explosions. Thus, the electric potential was evaluated in a cylindrical tank partially filled with fuel. It was done by solving the Laplace and Poisson equations using the eigenfunction expansion method. The analytical solution of the electric potential was then numerically evaluated by setting the dimensions and parameters based on realistic values, found in practical situations. The resulting values of the numerical evaluation were then compared with a numerical simulation performed in the software FEMM. The comparison pointed that the analytical solution was correct, since the error was lower than one percent. Also, the numerical evaluation shows that the voltage inside the tank can reach high levels, however, the risk of an explosion is low.