Power System

Circuit Breakers and Substations

Lecture No. 6
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel
Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Lahore

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 1

SULFURHEXAFLUORIDE (SF6) CIRCUIT BREAKERS
Introduction

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 2

Sulfur-hexafluoride (SF6) Circuit Breakers
• Sulfur-hexafluoride circuit breakers are a relative newcomer, having
been commercially introduced in 1956.
• Although SF6 was discovered in 1900 by Henry Moissan.
• The first report of investigations about exploring the use of SF6 as an
arc quenching medium was published in 1953 by T. E. Browne, A. P.
Strom and H. J. Lingal.
• These investigators made a comparison of the interrupting
capabilities of air and SF6 using a plain break interrupter.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 3

Sulfur-hexafluoride (SF6) Circuit Breakers
• The published results showing
the superiority of SF6 were
simply astounding.
• As it can be seen in Figure, SF6
was 100 times better than air.
• In the same report, it was
shown that the addition of even
moderate rates of gas flow
increased the interrupting
capability by a factor of 30.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 4

Sulfur-hexafluoride (SF6) Circuit Breakers
• SF6 circuit breakers have completely dominated the high voltage
circuit breaker market that obsolete the air blast and oil technologies.
• SF6 circuit breakers are used in all applications in the range of 72.5 kV
to 800 kV.
• In medium voltage applications, from 3 kV and up to about 20 kV,
presently neither SF6 nor vacuum technology has become the
dominant one, although there are strong indications that for medium
voltage applications, VCBs may be gaining an edge.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 5

Properties of SF6 Gas

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 6

Properties of SF6 Gas
• Properties of SF6
• SF6 is a chemically very stable, non-flammable, non-corrosive, non-
poisonous, colorless and odorless gas.
• It has a molecular weight of 146.06 [32 + 6x32] and is one of the
heaviest known gases.
• The high molecular weight and its heavy density limit the sonic
velocity of SF6 to 136 meters per second which is about one third
that of the sonic velocity of air.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 7

Properties of SF6 Gas
• SF6 is an excellent gaseous
dielectric which, under similar
conditions, has more than
twice the dielectric strength of
air. At three atmospheres of
absolute pressure, it has about
the same dielectric strength of
oil.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 8

Properties of SF6 Gas
• Furthermore, SF6 retains most of its
dielectric properties when mixed
even with substantial proportions of
air or nitrogen.
• Because of its superior heat transfer
capabilities as shown in Figure, SF6
is better than air as a convective
coolant.
• While the thermal conductivity of
helium is ten times greater than
that of SF6, the later has better heat
transfer characteristics due to the
higher molar heat capacity of SF6
and its low gaseous viscosity enable
it to transfer heat more effectively.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 9

Properties of SF6 Gas
• SF6 is not only a good insulating gas but it is also an efficient electron
scavenger due to its electron affinity or electronegativity.
• This property is primarily responsible for its high electric breakdown
strength, but it also promotes the rapid recovery of the dielectric
strength around the arc region following the extinction of the arc.
• Because of its low dissociation temperature and its high dissociative
energy, SF6 is an excellent arc quenching medium.
• The outstanding arc extinguishing characteristics of SF6 are also due to its
recovering ability of dielectric strength very rapidly following a period of
arcing, and to its characteristically small time constant which dictates the
change of conductance near current zero.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 10

Properties of SF6 Gas
• Arc Decomposed By-Products
• At temperatures above 500°C, SF6 will begin to dissociate.
• The process of dissociation can be initiated by exposing SF6 to a flame,
electrical sparking, or an electric arc.
• During this process the SF6 molecules will be broken down into sulfur and
fluorine ions at a temperature of about 3000°C.
• During the interruption process, the core of the arc will reach temperatures
well in excess of 10,000 Kelvin; however, after the arc is extinguished and
the arc region begins to cool down.
• When the temperature drops below approximately 1000°C, the gas will
begin to recombine almost totally, and only a small fraction will react with
other substances.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 11

Properties of SF6 Gas
• The small amounts of gas that do not recombine react with air, with
moisture, with the vaporized electrode metal and with some of the
solid materials that are used in the construction of the circuit breaker
• These decomposition byproducts may be gaseous or solid, but they
essentially consist of lower sulfur fluorides, and of metal fluorides of
which the most notable are CuF2, AIF3, [Tungsten Fluoride] WF6 and
CF4.
• Among the secondary sulfur fluoride compounds that are formed are
S2F2 and SF4, but they quickly react with moisture to yield hydrogen
fluoride (HF), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and other more stable oxyfluorides
such as thionyl fluoride (SOF2).

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 12

Properties of SF6 Gas
• The metallic fluorides are usually present in the form of a fine
nonconductive dust powder that is deposited on the walls and in the
bottom of the circuit breaker enclosure.
• In the case of copper electrodes, the solid substances appear as a
milky white powder that acquires some blue tinges when exposed to
the atmosphere due to a reaction which yields a dehydrated salt.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 13

Properties of SF6 Gas
• Corrosive Effects of SF6
• Sulfur-hexafluoride in its pure and uncontaminated form is a non-reactive
gas and consequently, there is no possibility for any type of corrosion that
may be directly attributable to SF6.
• When the by-products of arced SF6 come in contact with moisture, some
corrosive electrolytes may be formed.
• The most commonly used metals generally do not deteriorate and remain
very stable.
• However, nylon, phenolic resins, glass, glass reinforced materials and
porcelain can be severely affected.
• Other types of insulating materials such as polyurethane, Teflon (PTEE) and
epoxies, either of the bisphenol A or the cycloaliphatic type, are
unaffected.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 14
Properties of SF6 Gas
• It is therefore very important to take appropriate measures in the
selection of materials and the utilization of protective coatings.
• During normal operation, corrosion can effectively be prevented by
providing appropriate means for the elimination of moisture and by
the use of commercially available desiccants [to keep products dry
and stable].

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 15

Properties of SF6 Gas
• By-Products Neutralization
• The lower fluorides and many of the other by-products are effectively
neutralized by soda lime (a 50-50 mixture of NaOH + CaO), by
activated alumina (especially, dried Al2O3), or by molecular sieves [a
material with pores (very small holes) of uniform size] .
• The preferred granule size for soda lime or alumina is 8 to 12 mesh,
but these do not exclude the possible use of other mesh sizes.
• The recommended amount to be used is approximately equal to 10%
of the weight of the gas.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 16

Properties of SF6 Gas
• Removal of the acidic and gaseous contaminants is accomplished by
circulating the gas through filters containing the above described
materials.
• These filters can either be attached to the circuit breaker itself or they
may be installed in specially designed but commercially available gas
reclamation carts.
• If it is desired to neutralize SF6 which has been subjected to an
electric arc, it is recommended that the parts be treated with an
alkaline solution of lime (Ca(OH)2), sodium carbonate (Na2C03), or
sodium bicarbonate (NaHC03).

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 17

SF6 Environmental Considerations

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 18

SF6 Environmental Considerations
• The release of human made materials into the atmosphere has created two
major problems.
• One is the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer and the other is the
global warming or "greenhouse effect.“
• Ozone Depletion Agent
• SF6 does not contribute to the ozone depletion for two reasons:
• First because due to the structure of the ultraviolet absorption spectrum of SF6, the
gas can not be activated until it reaches the mesosphere at about 60 kilometers
above the earth and this altitude is far above the stratospheric one which is in the
range of about 30 to 45 kilometers.
• The second reason is the fact that SF6 does not contain chlorine which is the
principal ozone destroying agent.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 19

SF6 Environmental Considerations
• Greenhouse Efect Agent
• SF6 has been labeled as the most influential greenhouse gas ever evaluated
by the scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
• What makes SF6 such a potentially powerful contributor to global warming
is the fact that SF6, like all the compounds in the fully fluorinated family,
has a super stable molecular structure.
• This structure makes these compounds very long lived, to the extent that
within human time frames these gases are indestructible.
• SF6 is a very good absorber of infrared radiation.
• This heat absorption characteristic combined with its long life (3,200 years)
has led scientists to assign an extremely high Global Warming Potential
(GWP) rating to SF6.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 20

SF6 Environmental Considerations
• The GWP rating is a comparative numerical value that is assigned to a
compound.
• The value is arrived at by integrating over a time span the radiative
forcing [the change in net irradiance in watts per square meter.] value
produced by the release of 1 kilogram of the gas in question and then
dividing this value by the value obtained with a similar procedure
with CO2.
• Because CO2 is considered to be the most common pollutant.
• It has been selected as the basis of comparison for assigning GWP
values to other pollutants.
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 21
SF6 Environmental Considerations
• The radiative forcing is The GWP values for C02 and for the most common filly
fluorinated compounds integrated over a one hundred years time horizon are
given in table below:

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 22

SF6 Environmental Considerations
• Presently, the concentration of SF6 has been reported as being only
about 3.2 parts per trillion by volume (pptv).
• This concentration is relatively low, but it is increasing at a rate of
about 8% per year.
• This means that if the concentration continues to increase at this rate,
in less than 30 years the concentration could be about 50 pptv.
• At this concentration, the expected global warming attributable to
SF6 has been calculated as 0.02°C.
• It is apparent that based on the estimated emission rates the
concentration of SF6 would be very small.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 23

Recycling of SF6

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 24

Recycling of SF6
• The future impact of SF6 on the atmosphere has been judged under
the assumption that all the gas is always released to the atmosphere.
• However the SF6 that is used in electrical equipment is not
intentionally released to the atmosphere and designers of equipment
always strive at finding methods, components and solutions that
minimize gas leakage.
• Nevertheless, contamination of the gas and consequent deterioration
of its capabilities can be expected under normal operating conditions.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 25

Recycling of SF6
• Contamination can be produced by any of the following mechanisms:
• Improper gas handling
• Humidity and air from solid materials including desiccants
• Decomposition of gas caused by electric discharges
• Chemical reaction of decomposed materials
• Gas contamination will eventually cause deterioration of the equipment and in
some cases it may even lead to complete failure.
• To avoid this risk, it is necessary then to maintain the purity of the gas as close as
possible.
• This is done, to some extent, using internal absorbers that help keep the
contamination levels relatively low.
• Another benefit of using these absorbers is that maintaining a low level of
contamination will also simplify the task of cleaning the gas during a recycling
operation
Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 26
Recycling of SF6
• In most cases, it is possible to perform a recycling operation on site
but even in those rare cases where the level of contamination is much
higher and a more complicated procedure is required to purify the
gas
• It can be done using the services of one of the many companies that
have emerged and specialize in arced SF6 recovery.
• It is also likely that low users of SF6 may find that it is not
economically practical to own their own reclaiming equipment.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 27

Recycling of SF6
• For SF6 to be successfully re-used, it is essential that it meet certain
minimum requirements. The maximum contamination levels
presently recommended are:
• Less than 50 ppmv content of toxic and corrosive decomposition products
• Less than 120 ppmv humidity
• Less than 2% by volume of contamination by other gas
• In those cases, where SF6 can not be properly recycled, it can be
safely disposed by heating the gas to a temperature above 1200°C
and then cleansing the resulting dissociated products using a wet
cleaner filled with a calcium hydroxide solution.

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 28

Thank You

Engr. Raheel Muzzammel 29