SF6-Control in GIS

Outdoor GIS		Indoor GIS

Since more than 40 years sulphur hexaflouride (SF6) is used in the electricity industry as insulated and quenching medium for gas insulated substations (GIS) and circuit breakers (GCB). Even under ecological aspects there is no alternative to SF6 avalable until today (life cicle assessment). Arcing processes that belong to everyday’s operation of a GCB or partial discharge activity over a long period cause the decomposition of the SF6 to highly corrosive and toxic by-products.

These decomposition products react with the inner components of the equipment and reduce its surface stability so that even mayor breakdowns can become the consequence. The pre-requisite to form these decomposition products are reactants like water (H2O) and air (N2O).

Therefore organisations like the CIGRÉ (SF6-Recycling Guide), SOLVAY FLOUR (SF6 Producer) and the IEC 60480 recommend to regularily check the concentration of decomposition products as well as of moisture and the purity of the SF6 applying a condition based maintenance (CBM).
This can be easily realized with the all-in-one product development called SF6-Breaker-Analyser.