Does the IONSTAR use radioactive alpha particles or electrochemical discharge?
Hello everybody,
these are truly uncertain times that we live in. A question that reached us from a customer is the following:
Does the IONSTAR use radioactive alpha particles or electrochemical discharge as an ionisation method?
The short answer: neither.
I personally suspect that the customer heard somewhere about electrochemical or corona discharge ionisation and thought that perhaps it had something to do with the corona virus. In much the same way, the sales of Corona Extra have dropped sharply over recent weeks because a certain section of the public are worried about contracting covid-19 from certain types of Mexican pale lager beer (strange, but true). As we said ā times are uncertain.
But now the long answer to a valid customer question:
IONSTAR is safe to use, has all the necessary certification (CE, EX-ATEX) and is non-hazardous.
Our IONSTAR uses a basic principle of physics which uses a plasma to produce harmless positive and negative ions.
There are several different types of ionisation or ways in which ions can be produced. The plasma discharge ionisation used in the IONSTAR must not be confused with other ionisation methods such as chemical ionisation, electrochemical (corona discharge) ionisation, thermal ionisation or the various forms of ionising radiation in which radioactive decay ionises alpha, beta, gamma or X particles.
The positive and negative air ions that our IONSTAR produces have a half-life period of less than a second. The ions remain in the air and in the spray booth for just long enough to neutralise the static electricity on the work-piece, after which they lose their energy, dissipate into the atmosphere and cease to exist.
The practice of using plasma to produce ions is a tried and tested principle of physics which can also be found in nature. During storms, lightning also produces negative and positive ions, in the same way that ionising devices do, just on a much larger scale. Ionising devices of this kind are used in all manner of industries, including the medical industry and can be used without concern
For the above reasons we can assure our distributors and customers that IONSTAR is a safe and useful tool for the workshop that adheres to stringent safety and product standards.
I hope the above information helps you further. Please do let me know if you have any other questions at all; I will be more than happy to help.
Stay safe!
