Produce huge amounts of static electric discharges using steam

The Armstrong Effect

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The Armstrong effect is the physical process by which static electricity is produced by the friction of a fluid. It was first discovered in 1840 when an electrical spark resulted from water droplets being swept out by escaping steam from a boiler. The effect is named after William Armstrong, who later became 1st Baron Armstrong, who was one of several people involved in discovering the effect and investigating the processes involved.[1] Using this principle Armstrong went on to invent what he called the Armstrong Hydroelectric Machine, which, despite its name, generated static electricity and not hydroelectric power.

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Armstrong continued his work through 1842, finding a similar effect with compressed air rather than steam, and constructing an "evaporating apparatus" with a specially designed friction nozzle able to produce 12-inch (300 mm) sparks. The electrical charge on the steam was positive, although Faraday discovered that adding turpentine to the water produced a negative polarity. In 1843, Armstrong designed a full-scale electrostatic generator on electrically insulating legs. These machines, with 46 steam jets, he called his "hydroelectric generators". One was set up at the Royal Polytechnic Institution in London and another was exported to the USA. These were fearsome machines, making a deafening noise, and the 22-inch (560 mm) sparks knocked out a man who got too close and killed a large dog. In its day, it was the most powerful way of generating static electricity and was remarkable for having no moving parts.[2] At a demonstration at Newcastle's Lit and Phil, the crowds were so great that Armstrong could not gain entry through the door and had to climb in through a window, this requiring two ladders.[2][3] As a result of his endeavours, on the recommendation of Faraday and Charles Wheatstone, he was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society in 1846. Continuing with his scientific and engineering interests, he went on to become a major industrialist in hydraulic engineering, military artillery and electricity generation.[2]