MXPA99005193A - Method for controlling and removing dust and other particles from a material - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for controlling and removing dust and other fine particles in a material comprising i) electrostatically charging carrier particles in powder form to give the carrier particles a minimum charge to mass ratio of +/- 1x10-4C/kg, ii) delivering the electrostatically charged carrier particles to the material, whereby the dust and other fine particles in the material agglomerate with the charged carrier particles and iii) removing the resultant agglomerates from the material (for example by vacuuming or brushing). An apparatus for delivering electrostatically charged particles to a material, the apparatus comprising a) a container, in which particles to be electrostatically charged are stored and b) means for delivering the particles from the container to the carpet of fabric material, the delivery means comprising i) a tube or pipe for delivering the carrier particles to the carpet or fine fabric material;and ii) means for expelling particles at high velocity from the container to the material;the tube or pipe being made of such a material that, when carrier particles are passed down the delivery tube at high velocity, a minimum charge to mass ratio of +/- 1x10-4C/kg is imparted to the particles by the frictional contact of the particles on the inside of the tube or pipe.

Description

METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AND REMOVING OF A MATERIAL POWDER AND OTHER PARTICLES FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for removing dust and other particles, which may include allergens housed in mats and fine cloth material; as well as an apparatus for supplying electrostatically charged particles on said material. We consider that the invention works on the basis of the fact that the powder and the fine particles are agglomerated with electrostatically charged particles, after which the resulting agglomerates can be removed, for example with suction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is well known how to remove dust and fine particles from carpets by aspiration. Although many commercial vacuum cleaners will remove some of the dust and fine particles from the carpet, some very fine particles will always remain on the carpet because of their size they can not be sucked by the vacuum cleaner. Normally, these fine particles are the most difficult to remove. Particles smaller than 10 μm in diameter, commonly called PM10s, which are deposited in the depth of the carpet hair, are always the most difficult to remove. These particles are considered the most dangerous in terms of health. In addition, the PM10s removed by the vacuum cleaner may not be properly retained in the vacuum cleaner filter and, therefore, may subsequently be released into the atmosphere through the vacuum cleaner's filtration system. As a result, it is often necessary to use special filter bags to retain the dust and fine particles present in the vacuum cleaner. During vacuum cleaning of these materials, such as carpets, these particles that are not removed tend to be disturbed and, therefore, to be transported by air. In this way, there may be a high concentration of airborne particles (which may include allergens). Particles up to 10 μm in diameter can remain suspended in the air for long periods of time and are so small that they can be inhaled by the human respiratory system. In this way, the mite feces in the home dust. { Derma tophagoides pteronyssinus or Derma tophagoides farinae) now recognized as the most common carrier of allergens associated with asthma, enter the respiratory system. These allergens are known as allergens series Der p and Der f. In addition, the feline allergen (Fel d series) can also be transmitted to the respiratory system.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for controlling and removing dust and other fine particles, especially allergens Der f and Der p from, for example, carpets. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved method for delivering charged particles to a surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling and removing dust and other fine particles from a material, such as carpets or tissue material, consisting of: i) electrostatically charging the conveying particles (for example by triboelectric charging, induction charging or corona charging) in the form of powder, to provide the carrier particles with a minimum charge / mass ratio of +/- 1 X 10 ~ 4 C / kg, ii ) supplying the conveying particles electrostatically charged to the material, whereby dust and other fine particles in the material agglomerate with the charged conveying particles, and iii) removing the resulting agglomerates from the material. The agglomerates can be removed from the carpet or other material by means of a vacuum cleaning process or with a brush. The agglomerates, much larger than the individual dust particles, will be easier to remove by vacuuming, especially where the cleaning process includes mechanical agitation and suction with vacuum. In addition, the agglomerates are less likely to be carried by the air compared to the individual dust particles and will certainly not be able to remain suspended in the air for long periods of time. Also, once the small particles (PM10s) are in the vacuum cleaner as an agglomerated compound, their exhaust is significantly reduced through the filtration system of the vacuum cleaner. When the material to be treated is a carpet, the loaded conveyer particles will penetrate directly into the shallow carpet and attract dust and other fine particles from the depth of the carpet, so that they can also be removed more efficiently.

The carrier particles used in the method of the invention can be electrostatically charged as they are applied to the carpet or other material. For example, the carrier particles may be stored in a container or in a device with a delivery system that is designed so that, during delivery, an electrostatic charge is imparted, for example, by triboelectric charging of the particles. In this apparatus, the conveying particles will be charged as they are expelled through the delivery system onto the carpet or other material. Alternatively, the carrier particles can be loaded and stored in a container before they are applied to the carpet or other material. A process for the preparation of high strength electrostatically charged particles is set forth in European Patent Application No. 95921916.3. The already charged particles are supplied from the container and applied directly to the carpet or other material. Preferably, the electrostatically charged carrier particles are powder particles formed from compounds selected from celite, corn, cyclodextrin, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyester, nylon, oil-treated calcite, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polytetrafluoroethylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyamides, " immobilized tannic acid "(as defined below) and wax materials (such as synthetic paraffin wax or natural wax, for example Carnauba wax). By the term "immobilized tannic acid" is meant tannic acid immobilized in polyvinyl pyrrolidone beads. The "immobilized tannic acid" is prepared as follows: to 100 mg of tannic acid dissolved in water, 50 mg of polyvinylpyrrolidone polycarbonate beads (ISP, Guildford Sumg) were added and mixed for one hour. The beads were separated from the solution by filtration and washed with a few milliliters of ice water until the color no longer existed in the washings. Then, they were dried in an oven at 50 ° C. The minimum level of charge required in the carrier particles is sufficient to provide a charge / mass ratio of + _ 1 X 10"C / kg, although excessive proportions can be achieved using the charged particle application system described hereinafter with reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings The electrostatic charge on the carrier particle may be of negative or positive polarity or it may be a mixture of both when the particles are friction-charged mixtures of different electrically insulating materials. The charged particles used in the method of the invention preferably have a diameter in the range of 10 to 500 μm, more preferably 100 to 300 μm To carry out the method according to the invention, at the same time (or later) that the electrostatically charged carrier particles are applied to the material, preferably the surface of the material is shake to ensure that dust and small particles agglomerate with the hauling particles and, therefore, are captured. Agitation may be performed at the same time that the conveying particles charged electrostatically are supplied on the carpet or as an intermediate step of agitation between the supply of the electrostatically charged hauling particles and their final removal or during the final step of removal. Therefore, the method of the invention improves the removal of small particles from a carpet or other material ("Screened"), restricts the number of particles that are carried by the air during the removal of small particles ("Damping") and increases the capacity of the vacuum cleaner to retain small particles ("Retention"). It has been found that the charge levels in the powder increase when the velocity of the particles increases through the tube or charge pipe. Usually, the velocity of the particles passing through the tube or pipe will be within the range of 10 to 80 m / sec, preferably 30 to 60 m / sec and more preferably 42 m / sec, so that they are achieved the desired load levels. The length of the charging tube or pipe and the number and diameter of the openings formed in the charging tube or pipe will also affect the charge levels on the powder. Generally, the charging tube or pipe will have a length in the range of 50 to 500 mm, preferably 100 to 300 mm. During the charging of the powder, the air pressure in the charging tube or pipe is higher than the atmospheric pressure. The number, size and arrangement of any of the holes formed in the charging tube or pipe will preferably be such that a triboelectric charging may occur without the holes allowing much air to escape through the holes, since the pressure difference causes loss of air and dust velocity, which reduces the level of triboelectric charge. Therefore, preferably, each hole will have a diameter of less than 5 micrometers, more preferably 2 to 3 micrometers in diameter. The holes can be of this size since the electric discharge through the holes does not require a large cross-sectional area. It is possible to increase the amount of turbulence of the particles during loading and, therefore, increase the contact of the particles with the surface of the tube or pipe causing the particles to travel along a tortuous path. This can be achieved, for example, by arranging the tube or pipe in a non-linear way such as a coil. When the tube or pipe is arranged in this way, preferably longer pipes or pipes are used, in order to maximize the contact of the powder with the surface of the pipe or pipe. For example, pipes or pipes up to 300 mm in length can be used. A further aspect of the present invention is that the powder may consist of a mixture of at least two different powder materials, which, when charged in the manner described above, will accept charges of opposite polarity. This system can be called a bipolar system. The tube or load pipe for a bipolar system does not require any discharge orifice. The reason for this is that in a charged bipolar system that is balanced there should not be any net accumulation of charge on the inner surface of the tube or pipe that needs to be discharged. If the bipolar system is not balanced and the net charge of a polarity is increased on the inner surface of the tube or pipe, this will act to dynamically limit and equalize the lack of balance by providing additional charges of a powder and prohibit the transfer of charge of another powder. Accordingly, in another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for delivering charged particles onto a surface, from a container containing uncharged particles, the method comprising the steps of: entraining the particles in a stream of gas; directing the flow of gas and particles entrained through a tube or pipe capable of imparting to the particles a minimum charge / mass ratio of +/- 1 X 10"C / kg, by frictional contact of the particles with the internal surface of the tube or pipe, and direct to the surface the stream of gas and entrained charged particles, where a mixture of particles from at least two different materials is used, the particles of a first material are able to assume, with the load, a charge of a particular polarity and the particles of the second material are able to assume, with the charge, a charge of the opposite polarity to that of the first particles.It can be seen that the use of this mixture of charged particles has particular advantages for controlling and removing dust and other fine particles in a particular material, for example a carpet.This is because, in practice, dust and other fine particles in the material will be charged and attracted to the charged particle of the opposite polarity that was directed towards the material. This has different advantages in the phases of both "Scouring" and "Damping" for the removal of small particles of material. In still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for delivering charged particles to a surface from a container containing uncharged particles, the method comprising the steps of entraining the particles to a gas stream; directing the flow of gas and particles entrained through the pipe or pipe capable of imparting to the particles a minimum charge / mass ratio of +/- 1 X 10-4C / kg, by frictional contact of the particles with the inner surface of the pipe or pipe; and directing the flow of gas and charged charged particles to a surface; wherein the tube or pipe includes a plurality of holes therein that have the dimension to allow an electrical discharge through the orifices, without allowing gas flow through the orifices to the extent that the velocity of the gas stream that carries the particles. These methods of directing the charged particles towards a surface represent a major improvement over the known art for the delivery of particles. In particular, charged particles, especially those with higher charge, experience a higher rate of dispersion and have a greater ability to stick to the surfaces to which they were delivered, including glass, ceramic, plastic, metals, skin or hair. In addition to this, the charged particles have the ability to stick to those parts of the surface to which they are directed and that are not directly exposed to charged particles and other inaccessible places, for example, behind or around the cylinders like vessels and bottles, behind the door handles or the like and between and around the toes. In this way, the charged particles thus supplied are uniformly glued on the surface which prevents the accumulation or irregular distribution of the charged particles on the surface. This has particular advantages when an essentially uniform distribution of the charged particles is desired for a particular application, for example, to be supplied to the toilet bowl or to a trash can.

It can be appreciated that this has particular advantages for the delivery of an active ingredient to a surface as required, for example, in the treatment of a fungal infection such as athlete's foot. In this case, the active ingredient can be included in the charged particles themselves or the active ingredient can be the charged particle itself. As regards the advantages defined above, the use of a mixture of charged particles of a unique polarity is preferred. While not wishing to be bound by any theory, it is believed that the repulsion between the polarities with the same charge helps both in the uniform distribution of the charged particles on the surface and in the singular dispersion of the charged particles. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for supplying a material, such as carpet or woven material, with electrostatically charged particles, the apparatus comprising: a) a container in which the charged particles are stored; and b) means for supplying the particles from the container to the carpet or the woven material, the supply means consist of: i) a tube or pipe for supplying the conveying particles towards the carpet or woven material; and ii) means for expelling the particles, preferably at a high velocity (i.e. a velocity of 1 to 100 m / sec), from the container to the material; The tube or pipe is made of a material that when the particles pass through the supply pipe at high speed, a minimum load / mass ratio of +/- 1 X 10"C / kg (preferably +/- 1 X 10"at +/- 1 X 10" C / kg, is imparted to the particles by the frictional contact of the particles inside the tube or pipe.Preferably, the pipe of the apparatus can be made of plastic materials, for example Perforated polyethylene Nylon not perforated and preferably perforated, unperforated and preferably perforated polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) available for sale as Teflon Without wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that the perforated tube used depends on the For example, if the particles used are towards the positive end of the triboelectric series, the preferred tube is made of a material towards the negative end of the triboelectric series and if the particles are towards the negative end. In the triboelectric series, the tube material will be towards the positive end of the series. Preferably, when the tube is made of perforated polyethylene, the preferred carrier particles are "immobilized tannic acid" as defined above. Preferably, when the tube is made of perforated or non-perforated PVC, the preferred carrier particles are selected from nylon, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVPP), "immobilized tannic acid", corn, calcite treated with oils and celite. Preferably, when the tube is made of perforated or non-perforated nylon, the preferred carrier particles are selected from polyester, PVPP, "immobilized tannic acid", cyclodextrin and calcite untreated or treated with oils. Preferably, when the tube is made of PTFE, the preferred carrier particles are selected from nylon, PVPP, "immobilized tannic acid", cyclodextrin and calcite not treated or treated with oils. Preferably, the delivery means includes means for expelling the particles at a high velocity from the container to the material. These means can be driven by compressed air (ie, compressor systems such as "snort" bags or by the use of pressurized gases, such as aerosols). Conveyor particles can also be applied to the material through a feed tube that works outside the suction effect of a vacuum cleaner, such as a wet or dry VAX vacuum. In still another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for supplying charged particles is provided, the apparatus consists of: a container for receiving the particles to be supplied; a tube or pipe capable, during use, of imparting to the particles a minimum charge / mass ratio of +/- 1 X 10"C / kg, by frictional contact of the particles with the inner surface of the pipe or pipe; and means for introducing the particles into a gas stream and directing the current within the tube or pipe, wherein the tube or pipe is arranged inside the container in order to facilitate the frictional loading of the particles by contact, in use, of the particles with the inner surface of the tube or pipe Some of these examples are described in the following Examples section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a flow chart illustrating three methods for applying the conductive particles electrostatically charged in a material according to the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the apparatus for applying the loaded conveyer particles, wherein the particles are charged during delivery from the apparatus; Figure 3 is a side view, in partial section and on a larger scale, of the delivery system of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a side view, in partial section, of a modified form of the delivery system of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 2; Figure 5 is a graph illustrating the effect of charged particles in preventing dust and other small particles in the carpet from being carried by the air; and Figure 6 is a graph illustrating the effect of charged particles on preventing dust and other small particles from being carried by air from the carpet.

Method 1 In a method of the invention, illustrated in Figure 1, the conveying particles are stored (A) in the spray device container, shown in Figure 2 and charged as they are sprayed out of the delivery system (B) through the triboelectric charging tube of the spray device and applied to the carpet or other material.

Method 2 In a second method of the invention, illustrated in Figure 1, the carrier particles are made of at least two different types of particles and are stored in a container segregated from the device (not shown). The particles rub against each other as they abandon their respective behaviors and make contact with each other, therefore, they are charged electrostatically (triboelectric charge) (F). The particles are supplied by the container supply system (C).

Method 3 In a third method of the invention, illustrated in Figure 1, the conveying particles are pre-charged (G) and then stored in a container of a spray device, shown in Figure 2. Pre-charged particles they are expelled from the container through the supply system (H) of the container without losing their charge. In each of the three above methods, when the loaded hauler particles are applied to the carpet or other material, they can be shaken (D) either by sweeping with a separate brush or by using the end of the tube of the delivery system. Charged carrier particles agglomerate with the dust and other small particles in the carpet or other material and the agglomerates can be removed by a vacuum cleaner or brush. By using the loaded hauling particles, the advantages described above are presented: "Estropajeado", "Damping" and "Retention" (E).

Apparatus 1 An apparatus for delivering charged particles to a material such as a carpet, as illustrated in Figure 2. The apparatus 1 for supplying charged conveying particles to be applied to a carpet consists of a container 2 with flexible walls and a supply tube 3 which extends from the container and outwards, through an end wall 4 of the container 2. The tube 3 is open at the upper end 5 inside the container 2 and has an opening 6 in the part of the tube adjacent to the wall 4 end and is open at the lower end 7. The portion of the tube 3 outside the container 2 forms a delivery system and includes holes 8 to form a loading region 8, as described below with reference to Figure 3. The container 2 contains a mass of conveying particles 11 and a 12 air bag If the walls of the container 2 are depressed, air from the air bag 12 will be forced through the open end 5 and down the tube 3 and the conveying particles 11 will be forced through the opening 6 into the tube 3. air that moves through tube 3 will carry the conveying particles with it towards the supply system, at the bottom of the tube 3 and suck more conveying particles into the tube through the opening 6 by a Venturi action. As a result, the conveying particles will be carried down the tube 3 into the loading region 9 and loaded as described below. The loaded conveyer particles 11 will be forced out of the open end 7 of the tube 3 and can be applied to the carpet or other material 13 placed under the apparatus. As illustrated in Figure 3, the lower end of the tube 3 that forms the load region 9 has holes 14 that extend through the walls of the tube 3. The materials of the load region 9 and the carrier particles 11 They are electrically isolated. Alternatively, the material of the charging region 9 may be semi-insulating, for example, an insulating polymer with particles of electrically conductive material distributed therein. As the conveying particles pass through the charging region 9, the particles are charged with a polarity due to the friction between the conveying particles and the inner surface 15 of the tube 3 (triboelectric charge) and a charge of the opposite polarity is shape on the inner surface 15. For example, the unipolar loading of the conveying particles 11 can be positive with the charge on the negative internal surface. As the conveying particles 11 continue to pass through the charging region 9, the charge on the inner surface 15 increases. An electric field is generated through the thickness of the wall of the tube 3. As the load increases, an electric discharge 16 will eventually occur through one or more orifices 14. This will result in the generation of positive and negative ions. The positive ions will tend to combine with the negative charges on the inner surface of the walls to neutralize these negative charges. This electrically regenerates the inner surface, allowing the charge of the conveying particles 11 to continue and thereby increasing the level of the charge in the conveying particles. An example of the dimensions of an embodiment of Apparatus 1, illustrated in Figure 2, are as follows: The dimensions of the tube 3 - external diameter of 4 mm, internal diameter of 3 mm, diameter of the holes 14 - is less than 200 mieras Apparatus 2 As an alternative for generating charged particles by forcing the particles through the holes 14 as in Apparatus 1, the charging region 9 of the tube 3 can be formed of a microporous material. In this arrangement, the regeneration of the inner surface 15 of the tube 3 can be carried out by an electrical discharge through the micropores. An example of the dimensions of an embodiment of Apparatus 2, illustrated in Figure 3, is as follows: The dimensions of the tube 3 - external diameter 4 mm, internal diameter 3 mm, The distribution of the micropores is 600 - 100 holes in a tube length of 100 mm.

Apparatus 3 An alternative arrangement of Apparatus 1 is as follows. This arrangement is illustrated in Figure 4. The load region 9 of the tube 3 is located inside the container 2 so that it is protected from damage. The lower end of the tube 3 includes the opening 6 which abuts the end wall 4 of the container 2. The tube is bent upwards in a loop and then back down towards the end wall. The load region 9 is formed in the portion extending down the tube. The lower end 7 of the tube 3 extends, in a level with the external surface of the wall end 4 of the container or slightly beyond the end wall.

Apparatus 4 An alternative arrangement to protect the region 9 of loading of the above Apparatus 3, is to make the lower end of the tube 3 include a load region capable of retracting within the portion of the tube 3 within the container 2 or making it in the form of a bellows.

Apparatus 5 As an alternative to using the apparatus 1, the filler particles can be supplied by the cleaning apparatus, such as a vacuum cleaner. Therefore, the particles are applied to the surface of the carpet, agitating it to agglomerate with the powder or with the other small particles and subsequently being collected by the cleaning apparatus. The system of the present invention is considered as a dry equivalent of a carpet washer that applies wet shampoo. In this arrangement, charged carrier particles are applied to the carpet from a nozzle of the applicator and agitated so that the charged carrier particles agglomerate with the powder and other small particles and then the agglomerates are removed by a second applicator suction nozzle . The agglomerates of removed carriers will be retained in a collection container.

Example 1 In Method 1 described above using the Apparatus 1, the hauling particles are Haze Carpet Freshener lavender perfume (manufactured by Reckitt and Colman Products Limited). In Apparatus 1, a micro-perforated nylon tube is used for region 9 and the level of charge obtained by supplying the product was sufficient to produce a charge / mass ratio of 2 X 10"4C / kg (+ The results are shown in Figure 5. The level of "Damping" indicated that, compared to uncharged transport particles that are deposited in a carpet sample, there were at least approximately 90% less dust particles carried by the carpet. the air on the surface of the carpet when it was shaken with the brush of the vacuum cleaner.

Example 2 In Method 1 described above using the Apparatus 1, the transporting particles are Nylon transporting particles. In Apparatus 1, a micro-perforated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tube is used for the loading region 9 and the level of charge obtained in the product delivery was such as to produce a charge / mass ratio of 2.5 X 10. "C / kg (+ ve)." These results are shown in Figure 6. The level of "Scouring" indicated that, compared to the uncharged transport particles that were deposited in a sample of the carpet, there was an improvement in the removal In a simulated aspiration test, using the uncharged transport particles, approximately 40% of the dust on the carpet remained on the carpet after the simulated aspiration test.In the same test loaded conveyer particles were used, this figure was reduced to approximately 25%.

Examples 1 and 2 can be repeated using each of the above Apparatus 2 to 5. Alternatively, Examples 1 and 2 may be repeated using Methods 2 and 3 above.

Claims (23)

1. NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION Having described the present invention, it is considered as a novelty and, therefore, the content of the following CLAIMS is claimed as property: 1. A method to control and remove from a material, dust and other fine particles, the method consists of: i) electrostatically charging powder particles to give the transport particles a minimum charge / mass ratio of: +/- 1 X 10"4C / kg, ii) supply the transporting particles charged to the material, whereby dust and other fine particles in the material agglomerate with the charged carrier particles, and iii) remove the resultant agglomerates from the material (e.g., by suction or brushing) 2. A method as claimed in Claim 1, in which the electrostatically charged carrier particles are powder particles formed from celite, corn, cyclodextrin, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyester, nylon, calcite treated with oils, polyvinyl chloride, polytetrafluoroethylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polyamides, tannic acid immobilized in pearls of polyvinylpyrrolidone or wax materials. 3. A method as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the electrostatically charged particles have an average particle size in the range of 10 to 500 μm. 4. A method as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the electrostatically charged particles have an average particle size within the limit of 100 to 300μm. 5. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the material is a carpet or woven material. 6. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the electrostatically charged carrier particles are agitated on the surface of the material after application thereto. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the charge / mass ratio of the transporting particles is within the range of + - 1 X 10"C / kg, to + -1 X 10" 3 C / kg. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which the surface of the material is agitated in order to ensure that the powder and small particles agglomerate with the conveying particles charged at the same time (or after) that The electrostatically charged conveying particles are applied to the material. A method as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the agitation is carried out at the same time that the transporting particles are delivered electrostatically to the material, or as an intermediate step of agitation between the supply of the charged transporting particles electrostatically and its final removal or during the final step of removal. 10. An apparatus for supplying electrostatically charged particles to a material, the apparatus consists of: a) a container in which the particles to be electrostatically charged are stored; and b) means for supplying the particles from the container to the carpet or tissue material, the supply means comprises: i) a tube or pipe for supplying the carrier particles to the material; and ii) means for ejecting the particles at high velocity from the container to the material; The tube or pipe is made of a material such that when the conveying particles pass through the supply pipe at high speed, a minimum charge / mass ratio of +/- 1 X 10"4 C / kg is imparted to the particles by the Friction contact of the particles inside the tube or pipe 11. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 10 in which the material from which the tube of the apparatus is made is selected from: perforated polyethylene, perforated polyvinyl chloride or non-perforated, perforated and non-perforated nylon, and perforated and non-perforated PTFE 12. An apparatus as claimed in Claim 10 or Claim 11, in which the means for expelling particles at high velocity from the container towards the material is driven by compressed air or by the action of a suction effect of a vacuum cleaner. 13. An apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 10 to 12, wherein the wall of the tube is formed with holes. 14. An apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 10 to 13, wherein the region of charge of the tube or tubing is located within the container. 15. An apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 10 to 14, wherein the tube or tubing can be stored in the container and removed from the container to deliver loaded conveyer particles. 16. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the means for delivering the particles is an apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 10 to 15, wherein: i) when the The tube is made of perforated polyethylene, the carrier particles are tannic acid immobilized in polyvinylpyrrolidone beads; ii) when the tube is made of perforated or non-perforated PVC, the carrier particles are selected from nylon, polyvinylpyrrolidone, tannic acid immobilized in polyvinylpyrrolidone beads, corn, calcite treated with oils and celite; iii) when the tube is made of perforated or non-perforated nylon, the carrier particles are selected from polyester, polyvinylpyrrolidone, tannic acid immobilized in beads of polyvinylpyrrolidone, cyclodextrin and calcite, treated or not treated with oils; and iv) when the tube is made of polytetrafluoroethylene, the carrier particles are selected from nylon, polyvinylpyrrolidone, tannic acid immobilized in polyvinylpyrrolidone beads, cyclodextrin and calcite treated or not treated with oils. 17. A method for delivering charged particles to a surface from a container containing uncharged particles, wherein the method comprises the steps of: entraining the particles to a gas stream; direct the gas stream and the particles dragged through a tube or pipe capable of imparting to the particles a minimum charge / mass ratio of +/- 1 X 10"C / kg, by frictional contact of the particles with the surface internal of the tube or pipe, and direct the flow of gas and charged particles dragged to a surface, where a mixture of particles of at least two different materials is used, the particles of a first material are able to take over, with the load , a charge of a particular polarity and the particles of a second material are able to assume, with the charge, a charge of the opposite polarity to that of the first particles 18. A method for supplying charged particles on a surface from a container It contains particles that are not charged, the method includes the steps of dragging the particles in a gas stream, directing the gas stream and particles dragged through of a tube or pipe capable of imparting to the particles a minimum charge / mass ratio of +/- 1 X 10"4 C / kg, by frictional contact of the particles with the inner surface of the pipe or pipe; and directing the flow of gas and charged particles entrained to a surface; wherein the tube or pipe includes a plurality of holes therein, sized to allow an electrical discharge through the orifices, without allowing the flow of gas through the orifices to the extent that the velocity of the gas stream that drags the particles is essentially reduced. 19. A method according to Claim 18, wherein each orifice has a diameter of less than 5 micrometers. A method as claimed in any of Claims 17 to 19, wherein the tube or pipe is arranged within the container containing the particles in order to facilitate frictional contact of the particles with the inner surface of the tube or pipeline. 21. A method as claimed in any of Claims 17 to 20, wherein the tube or pipe is arranged in a non-linear manner. 22. A method as claimed in Claim 21, wherein the tube or pipe is spirally formed. 23. An apparatus for supplying charged particles, the apparatus consists of: a container for receiving the particles to be supplied; a tube or pipe capable, in use, of imparting a minimum charge / mass ratio of +/- 1 X 10"C / kg by frictional contact of the particles with the inner surface of the pipe or pipe, and means for introducing the particles in a gas stream and directing the current into a tube or pipe, wherein the tube or pipe is arranged within the container in order to facilitate, in use, frictional loading of the particles by contacting the particles with the internal surface of the tube or pipe.