234

SF6 RECYCLING GUIDE

(REVISION 2003)

Task Force
B3.02.01

August 2003
 SF6 RECYCLING GUIDE
Re-use of SF6 gas in electrical power equipment and final disposal

by

CIGRÉ B3. 02 TASK FORCE 01

P Glaubitz (Convenor), S Stangherlin (Secretary),

J L Bessede, W Degen, Y Fushimi, J Henriot, A Holm, G Mauthe,
M Meguro, L Niemeyer, P O'Connell, M Pittroff,
P Prieur, L Roethlisberger, P Sieber, S Theoleyre
Copyright © 2002
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Copyright © 2002
Ownership of a CIGRE publication, whether in paper form or on electronic support only
infers right of use for personal purposes..Are prohibited, except if explicity agreed by CIGRE,
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SUMMARY

This document reviews all significant aspects of the recycling of SF6 gas used in electrical
power equipment. It gives recommendations for the design of electrical power equipment
utilising SF6 to allow ease of gas recycling, proposes appropriate gas handling and
recycling procedures to be applied and describes essential features of gas handling and
recycling equipment. It identifies the origins, quantities and deteriorating effects of
contaminants to be expected in SF6 used in electrical power equipment and proposes
purity standards to which SF6 gas should be reclaimed to allow its safe reuse. Methods of
verifying the quality of the reclaimed gas are also given, as are proposals for transportation
of the gas with varying degrees of contaminants. Additionally, a final disposal concept is
proposed by which SF6 can be removed from the eco-cycle and transformed into
environmentally compatible substances. Finally the document gives general
recommendations to be applied when handling SF6 with further specific recommendations
for electrical power equipment manufacturers, users and for SF6 producers. A number of
issues still require resolution and these are listed as recommendations for further work.
Extensive background information on important issues is given in appendixes.
A first version of this guide was published in 1997 (CIGRE document N. 117); knowledge
improvements of the last 6 years have been taken into account in this revision 2003.
 Contents

1 INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................6
2 DEFINITIONS ...............................................................................................................8
3 DESIGN OF SF6 INSULATED ELECTRICAL POWER EQUIPMENT ..........................9
3.1 Low Losses............................................................................................................9
3.2 Gas Pressure / Density Monitoring ......................................................................10
3.3 Contamination of Gas..........................................................................................10
3.4 Gas Recycling .....................................................................................................11
4 CONTAMINATION OF SF6 IN ELECTRICAL POWER EQUIPMENT ........................11
4.1 Origin of Contamination.......................................................................................11
4.1.1 Contamination by Gas Handling...................................................................12
4.1.2 Contamination by Leakage...........................................................................12
4.1.3 Contamination by Desorption .......................................................................12
4.1.4 Decomposition by Electrical Discharges.......................................................12
4.1.5 Mechanical Generation of Dust Particles......................................................14
4.2 Effects of Contamination .....................................................................................14
4.3 Maximum tolerable impurity levels for the reuse of SF6 in electrical equipment ..16
4.3.1 Summary of measurement units for impurities .............................................16
4.3.2 Derivation of maximum tolerable impurity levels for reuse ...........................17
4.3.3 Relation to other standards ..........................................................................21
5 RECLAIMING SF6 FROM ELECTRICAL POWER EQUIPMENT ...............................22
5.1 General Considerations.......................................................................................22
5.2 Gas Categorisation..............................................................................................23
5.3 Reclaiming Equipment.........................................................................................24
5.4 Reclaiming Procedures .......................................................................................26
5.4.1 Non-arced gas..............................................................................................27
5.4.2 Normally arced gas ......................................................................................27
5.4.3 Heavily arced gas.........................................................................................28
5.5 Gas Quality Checks.............................................................................................29
5.6 SF6 services ........................................................................................................31
6 STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION OF USED SF6 ................................................31
6.1 Gas categories ....................................................................................................31
6.2 Storage................................................................................................................32
6.3 Transportation containers ....................................................................................33
6.4 Transportation modes..........................................................................................33
6.5 Regulations for road and ship transportation .......................................................34
7 REUSE OF RECYCLED GAS ....................................................................................35
8 FINAL DISPOSAL OF USED SF6 ...............................................................................35
9 CONCLUSIONS .........................................................................................................36
10 RECOMMENDATIONS...........................................................................................36
10.1 General Recommendations .................................................................................36
10.2 Recommendations to Electrical Power Equipment Manufacturers ......................36
10.3 Recommendations to Electrical Power Equipment Users who handle SF6..........37
10.4 Recommendations to SF6 producers...................................................................37
11 RECOMMENDED FURTHER WORK .....................................................................37
12 REFERENCES........................................................................................................38

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APPENDIX 1 FUNCTIONAL DETERIORATION BY CONTAMINANTS .........................40
1 Toxic Health Risk ....................................................................................................40
2 Corrosion ................................................................................................................40
3 Gas Insulation Performance....................................................................................41
4 Surface Insulation Performance ..............................................................................42
4.1 Condensation of a Conducting Liquid..................................................................42
4.2 Formation of Conductive Surface Layers on Insulators by Corrosion..................42
4.3 Deposition of a Conducting Solid.........................................................................43
5 Switching Performance ...........................................................................................43
6 Heat Transfer ..........................................................................................................44
7 References for Appendix 1......................................................................................46
APPENDIX 2 SF6 QUALITY CHECKING EQUIPMENT .................................................47
1 Moisture ..................................................................................................................47
1.1 Physical Dew Point Meters ..................................................................................47
1.2 Electronic Dew Point Meters................................................................................47
1.3 Chemical Reaction Tubes with Visual Indication .................................................48
1.4 Summary of desirable features of dew point meters:...........................................48
2 Reactive Gases (SF6 Decomposition By-Products) ................................................48
3 Non Reactive Gases (Air and CF4) .........................................................................49
APPENDIX 3 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR SF6 RECYCLING EQUIPMENT....50
1 Pre Filter for Heavily Arced SF6 Gas.......................................................................50
2 Particle Filter ...........................................................................................................50
3 Vacuum Pump.........................................................................................................50
4 SF6 Vacuum Compressor........................................................................................51
5 SF6 Piston Compressor...........................................................................................51
6 Gas/Moisture Filters ................................................................................................51
7 SF6 Storage.............................................................................................................52
8 SF6 Re-filling ...........................................................................................................52
9 Design Example ......................................................................................................52
10 Safety Features ...................................................................................................54
11 Ability to maintain original gas quality..................................................................54
12 Transportability ....................................................................................................54
APPENDIX 4 MOISTURE...............................................................................................55
1 General ...................................................................................................................55
2 Moisture measurement units...................................................................................55
3 Moisture measurement practice ..............................................................................56
3.1 Influence of the pressure and temperature..........................................................56
3.2 Relation between the humidity contain and the dew point measurement ............57
4 Basic Moisture Level in Equipment .........................................................................57

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1 INTRODUCTION

Sulphur hexafluoride, SF6, an essential material for high-voltage electrical equipment, has
been identified as a greenhouse gas with a long atmospheric lifetime [1.1]. Recent
findings show a lower, but still significant, figure [1.2]. To address this issue, CIGRÉ WG
23.02 prepared two papers, [1.3] and [1.4]. The first one discusses all the possible effects
of SF6 in the environment; while the second one clearly states that the contribution of SF6
to the total man-made greenhouse effect in 1999 was less than 0.1%.

As most of the SF6 purchased by the electrical industry is for use in newly installed sealed
electrical power equipment, its contribution to the observed global emission rate can only
be negligible. Nevertheless, in view of the longevity of SF6 in the atmosphere noted in
[1.1], [1.2], [1.3] and [1.4] the emission of SF6 from electrical power equipment has to be
minimised by the avoidance of deliberate release and by systematic recycling. The term
recycling is understood to comprise reclaiming and reuse, further purification of gas, which
cannot readily be reclaimed, and environmentally compatible final removal of gas from the
eco-cycle. Recycling of SF6 has been practised to varying degree by users of SF6
insulated electrical equipment. What has been lacking, however, is a comprehensive
guide for users that addresses all aspects of SF6 recycling. This document seeks to fill
that gap by presenting guidelines on the recycling friendly design of electrical power
equipment, by describing the origin and effects of contamination of SF6, and the tolerable
impurities for gas to be reused. In addition, suitable reclaiming equipment and procedures,
storage, transportation and reuse procedures, as well as further treatment of gas that
cannot be reused are addressed.

As SF6 applied in electrical power equipment is inherently contained and not consumed or
released, recycling can be easily introduced as a natural part of handling. Users of SF6
gas should therefore establish a policy to minimise SF6 losses into the atmosphere by
minimising leakage losses from equipment and by systematic recycling. Appropriate
standards, procedures and equipment should support this policy. The benefits to be
obtained from this are:

- Consistency with a general public policy of avoiding release of man-made gases into
the environment;
- Conservation of a valuable material;
- The demonstration of a voluntary effort to reduce an emission without formal regulation
by authorities.

The minimisation of leakage losses from equipment has been a major issue in the past.
Development of gas insulated equipment has resulted in practical leakage rates in the
order of 0.1% per year. There are also sealed pressure systems (sealed for life
equipment) that do not require any gas handling during service life [1.5].

It is desirable, both from an ecological and economic point of view, to keep SF6 at a low
contamination level by careful handling so that it can be reused many times.

SF6 should, continually be reused during equipment development, product testing,

commissioning, maintenance and repair, and decommissioning. It should also be
transferred from equipment being phased out into newly installed equipment. It thus goes
through a continuous cycle of reuse.
Such a systematic reuse of SF6 requires that the gas be kept at the stated quality level at
which it can perform its functions. This can be achieved by proper handling and
reclaiming. With properly designed and maintained reclaiming equipment, moisture and
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reactive by-products can almost always be reduced on-site to tolerable impurity levels for
reuse.

Only in rare cases the gas cannot be purified sufficiently on-site, e.g. due to excessive
contamination with non-reactive gases such as air and / or CF4. In those cases, the on-
site purification process allows for transporting the non-reusable gas as non-toxic gas, like
new SF6 for off-site purification by a recycling enterprise to be rendered reusable. Such
off-site purification process results in only a very small fraction of the residue being
processed for final disposal in an environmentally compatible way.

Successful SF6 handling and recycling requires:

- Knowledge of the origins and quantities of contaminants to be expected in SF6 used in

electrical power equipment;
- Electrical power equipment designed for ease of recycling;
- Purity standards for reclaimed SF6 to be reused in electrical power equipment;
- Appropriate gas handling and recycling equipment;
- Appropriate gas handling and recycling procedures;
- Methods to verify quality of reclaimed gas;
- Under a long-term perspective, additionally, a final disposal concept is required by
which SF6 can be removed from the eco-cycle by retransforming it into environmentally
compatible substances.

These seven issues are the subjects of this document.

In order to explore the present awareness of SF6 users for SF6 handling and recycling
problems, a questionnaire was circulated by the CIGRÉ Working Group WG 23 - 02 to SF6
users (equipment manufacturers and utilities) which triggered some 50 responses.

The following conclusions could be drawn from the survey:

(1) There is presently little common consistency in the approach to handling and recycling
SF6 in practice.

(2) Only high voltage Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) users systematically recycle SF6.
For other electrical power equipment using smaller quantities of SF6 recycling is
frequently not applied.

(3) The reasons for not recycling SF6 are equipment and manpower costs, and the
extremely stringent purity requirements imposed by the standard IEC 60376, for new
gas, which was specified by some manufacturers to guarantee equipment
performance.

(4) SF6 handling and recycling equipment is commercially available ranging from the very
basic to very sophisticated.

(5) Presently applied handling and recycling procedures vary widely and are partly
inconsistent.

(6) The purity criteria applied for the recycled gas vary over a wide range.

(7) The quantitative knowledge on actual leakage and handling losses is frequently
insufficient.
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(8) The estimated cost/benefits of recycling varied extremely widely.

The major conclusion is:

The need for recycling SF6 has been recognised but comprehensive guidelines for
handling and recycling are urgently needed, along with realistic purity standards for
reclaimed SF6 to be reused in electrical power equipment. The presently ongoing
revision of IEC 60480 aims to satisfy this need.

This document provides an outline of such handling guidelines and a proposal for a future
purity standard.

A first version of this guide was published in 1997 (CIGRE document N. 117); knowledge
improvements of the last 6 years have been taken into account in this revision 2003.

2 DEFINITIONS

A number of terms are used in this document that require clarification, these are defined
below:

Recycling: In the context of this document this term will be understood to comprise the
following described processes of recovery, reclaiming, storage, reuse, further treatment
and final disposal.

Reclaimer: Device for purification of used gas for the purpose of reuse.

Reclaimed gas: Gas that has been processed by a reclaimer.

Recovery: Transfer of gas from electrical power equipment into a reclaimer or storage
container.

Storage: Intermediate storage of reclaimed gas.

Reuse: Use of reclaimed gas for filling new or existing electrical equipment.

Gas Quality Check: Check of reclaimed gas for compliance with the purity requirements
for reuse.

Further treatment: Additional purification process required for gas that does not fulfil the
purity requirements for reuse.

Final disposal: Transformation of gas into substances, which can be either used for other
purposes or disposed of in an environmentally compatible way.

Page 8 of 59
3 DESIGN OF SF6 INSULATED ELECTRICAL POWER EQUIPMENT

3.1 Low Losses

International discussions have been held concerning reductions in emissions of all

greenhouse gas, and, as a consequence, many users of SF6 have been focusing attention
on reducing their losses. SF6 leakages and handling losses are an important part of these
emissions.

For the whole service life the secure performance depends on the optimised quality of all
components of the switchgear. In regard of SF6 leakage, the quality of the encapsulation
including its material, the machining process, the design of gaskets and the sealing
material itself is of major importance. The tightness of the gas-insulated switchgear over
the whole service time is not only a condition for reliable function of the switchgear but also
for a prevention of SF6 leakages.

Sealing designs vary between single O-ring for static sealing, such as enclosure flange
connections, to multiple gaskets with closed grease chambers for rotating and axial
dynamic seals.

SF6 technology has been continuously developing since 1964, when SF6 was first used in
switchgear. A lot of fundamental research was done on SF6 sealing systems in general, in
materials, dimensions, surfaces etc. Furthermore the treatment of all kinds of flange
connections and interfaces is designed to prevent corrosion.

Most of the presently installed SF6 insulated electrical power equipment is designed for low
leakage rates in accordance with international standards IEC 60694 (future 62271 part 1),
IEC 62271 part 100 (former 60056), IEC 60298 (future 62271 part 200), IEC 60517 (future
62271 part 203), IEC 61634 (future 62271 part 303) as well as national standards.

With these details of the design a leakage rate below 1.0%/a per compartment can be
guaranteed. At present, a leakage rate of less than 1.0%/a is still specified in the
standards for SF6 insulated electrical power equipment. Preliminary data from utilities
indicate that actual leakage rates in operating equipment are often substantially lower, the
leakage rate is according to the experience over more than 30 years in average less than
0.5%/a and in special cases, due to the design of the compartments, even down to
< 0.1%/a.

For distribution applications, sealed pressure systems (sealed for life equipment) are being
produced for which leakage rates below 0.1%/a are obtained.

For new equipment IEC standard 62271 part 1 resp. part 203 is on revision and suggest to
limit the permissible leakage rate down to 0.5%/a. The reduction of this value even down
to 0.1%/a was discussed. However this suggested limit value can only be measured
under laboratory conditions and is therefore not for use in the field. All future equipment
should be designed such that the overall leakage rate of an installation is below 0.1%/a.
Until more sensitive routine test methods are available the best available techniques
should be applied to verify, on routine test, a leakage rate per test unit of better than
0.5%/a.

In the last years the development of SF6 insulated switchgear was mainly driven by the
aim to reduce the use of material and costs at still extremely high reliability. As a result

Page 9 of 59
very compact substations designs are on the market with the following changes against
older equipment:
- Up to 98% of space reduction in comparison to air insulated switchgear;
- Up to 75% reduced SF6 volume;
- Delivery of completely closed and tested bay units up to 245 kV;
- Leakage rates down to less than 0.5% per compartment and year.

However it has to be mentioned that losses of SF6 is not only a matter of design. The
handling with SF6 during installation, on site testing and maintenance activities has a major
contribution to the overall SF6 loss rate. While in the past mainly time-based maintenance
has been done, sometimes with unnecessary work, nowadays minimum condition based
maintenance is done. Only specialists and skilled people, who know how to handle the
matter, will do necessary maintenance work. To reduce all handling losses as much as
possible, the switchgear is designed to minimise life time handling losses and the
procedure of installation, service, maintenance and repair is described by the
manufacturers as detailed as possible.

3.2 Gas Pressure / Density Monitoring

The switchgear can only function correctly if the required gas density in the individual gas
compartments is available. In the event of a failure or an impermissible deviation, visual
and/or acoustic alarms are initiated. Only if these deviations reach such magnitudes that
normal operation can no longer be maintained, automatic lockout features come into
effect.

However, the accuracy of commonly used gas monitors provides an alarm after 5 to 10%
of the gas has leaked out. The equipment is designed to operate correctly with this loss of
gas, and still has a safety margin.

The gas pressure/density of a compartment should be checked continuously by reading

the gauge value and analysing the trend of the gas pressure/density versus the time. If
the gas pressure/density is dropping by measurable amounts, taking into consideration
that the pressure varies with temperature while the density is independent, corrective
measures should be organized as quick as possible. The initial step of adding gas to
restore normal operating gas content should be followed by action to locate and eliminate
the leak or leaks. The rather large leakages apparently allowed by gas monitor systems
should not be interpreted as implying that high leak rates are either normal or acceptable.

Modern gas checking systems that continuously measure the SF6 gas content (density)
provide leakage rate information, which allows early detection of small leaks.

3.3 Contamination of Gas

The equipment compartments, in particular those containing a switching function like

disconnectors, load switches, circuit breakers, are always equipped with adsorbers that
are dimensioned such that they can accommodate, in addition to moisture, all chemically
reactive, corrosive, and toxic decomposition products that could be produced during the
maximum specified operating cycle (see Chapter 4 for more details).

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3.4 Gas Recycling

The following design features of gas insulated electrical power equipment contribute to the
ready application of successful gas recycling:
(1) The removal of decomposition products and moisture by internal adsorbers keeps the
contamination levels in the gas very low and thus eases the cleaning of the gas during
recycling.

(2) Minimizing the gas volume and pressure reduces the quantity of the gas to be recycled.

(3) Subdivision of the equipment in closed compartments limits the quantity of the gas to
be recycled, particularly in the case of failure arcing when severely contaminated SF6
has to be treated.

(4) Sealing systems that are designed to withstand both pressure and vacuum, which will
occur during gas removal / filling avoid the possible contamination of SF6 with air and
moisture.

(5) SF6 specific gas connections and check valves prevent accidental gas loss or
contamination with air by handling errors.

(6) Minimizing external gas pipe work reduces leakage from corrosion or mechanical
damage.

(7) Minimizing the use of oil and grease as lubricants in the equipment excludes the
possibilities of contamination in the gas with lubricant oil, which is difficult to remove.

The above features can be implemented in a straightforward manner, taking also the
thermal and mechanical design aspect into consideration, and are state-of-the-art in most
present day equipment. Older equipment can be retrofitted at the time of maintenance at
relatively low cost.

4 CONTAMINATION OF SF6 IN ELECTRICAL POWER EQUIPMENT

4.1 Origin of Contamination

The contaminants of SF6 that may be generated in electrical power equipment originate
from six major sources, namely:

- Gas Handling;
- Leakage;
- Desorption from surfaces, bulk materials, and adsorbers;
- Decomposition by electrical discharges;
- Secondary reactions of discharge decomposition products;
- Mechanical generation of dust and particles.

The levels at which these contaminants are present depend mainly on equipment design,
manufacturing, assembly, on gas handling procedures, adsorber design, and on the
cumulated discharge activity.

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4.1.1 Contamination by Gas Handling

During gas handling, i.e. filling and emptying of the equipment, air may be inadvertently
added to the SF6 as residue in pipe-work and valves, by leakage through sealings, by the
residual air pressure left in the enclosure after evacuation before filling with SF6 and by
handling errors. The amount of air and gas-entrained dust which is introduced in this way
can be minimized by:

- Appropriate design of pipe-work and valves;

- Appropriate handling procedures;
- Careful evacuation of the air from the enclosure before filling with SF6 (a residual air
pressure of < 100 Pa is recommended).

4.1.2 Contamination by Leakage

Air and moisture may diffuse into the pressurized enclosure from the outside because the
partial pressure of air and water outside the enclosure is higher than inside. The main
leakage paths are enclosure porosity, sealings of mechanically moving transmission
elements, and sealing systems. Diffusion through metals is negligible. Diffusion through
polymeric materials may play a role but is normally negligible because of the very small
diffusion coefficients of air and water vapour in these materials.

4.1.3 Contamination by Desorption

Various gases and vapours such as water and cleaning agents may be adsorbed at the
inner surfaces of the equipment or absorbed in bulk materials before the equipment is
assembled. Metal surfaces are loaded with moisture and may have cleaning agents
adsorbed. Polymeric materials contain substantial quantities of moisture within the bulk,
being the most important source of moisture in the system. Field sampling on equipment
with adsorbers shows that the partial water vapour pressure in the gas is of the order of
100 Pa [1.15], which corresponds to a dew point around – 20 oC at operating pressure
(see Appendix 4 Section 4).

Adsorbers, which have not been properly handled or are overloaded, may contain both
moisture and adsorbed SF6 by-products, which may be released during evacuation or at
elevated temperature.

The quantities of the desorbed substances are difficult to estimate because they depend
on the specific materials employed, the production methods, quality control and the
assembling and maintenance procedures. For the case of moisture, field sampling on
operating equipment shows that its concentration is typically a few hundreds ppmv and is
mainly determined by absorption equilibrium with polymeric materials [1.15].

4.1.4 Decomposition by Electrical Discharges

SF6 is partially decomposed by electric discharges, which can be grouped into four major
types, namely:

- Partial discharges of the corona type;

- Spark discharges;

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- Switching arcs;
- Failure arcs.

Partial Discharges

Partial discharge activity of the corona type is caused by insulation defects. It

decomposes SF6 mainly into the fragments SF4 and F, which further react with traces of
oxygen, O2, and water, H2O, to form the compounds HF, SO2, SOF2, SOF4 and SO2F2
[1.11]. Higher molecular compounds such as S2F10, S2OF10 and S2O2F10 are also formed,
however, in much smaller and practically insignificant quantities [1.6], [1.7]. Due to the low
intensity of the discharges, the quantities of decomposition products formed are very low,
mostly in the range of several tens of ppmv referred to SF6 filling pressures of about 500
kPa [1.9].

Spark Discharges

Spark discharges may occur at large scale insulation defects such as floating conductors
and during disconnector switching operation. The decomposition products generated are
of the same kind as in corona discharges but their quantitative generation rates and
composition are different [1.8], [1.12]. The quantities formed in disconnectors are very
small because these devices operate rarely and only interrupt small capacitive currents.
Higher quantities can only be accumulated if severe insulation defects causing permanent
spark-type discharge activity prevail for an extended period of time and if no adsorbers are
provided in the equipment. Systematic use of adsorbers is recommended because it
mitigates the accumulation of decomposition products also under these worst-case
conditions.

Switching Arcs

Switching arcs occur in load break switches and power circuit breakers. The high current
flow in these arcs leads to substantial erosion of the contact and insulation materials by
the hot arc. The main cause for SF6 decomposition is the reaction of these erosion
products with the fragments of thermally dissociated SF6 and other trace gasses such as
oxygen and water vapour [1.11]. The most important of these reactions can be expressed
by the three summarising formulae:

Cu + SF6 ---> CuF2 + SF4 (1)

W + 3 SF6 ---> WF6 + 3 SF4 (2)
CF2 + SF6 ---> CF4 + SF4 (3)

The first two reactions are associated with eroded material from the arcing contacts for
which copper tungsten (Cu-W) is normally used. The last reaction is due to eroded PTFE
(a CF2 polymer), which is employed in most switchgear to contain the arc.

The primary products generated by the reactions (1) - (3) are the solid copper fluoride
CuF2 and the two gases SF4 and WF6. The latter two gases are very reactive. They are
removed from the gas volume by:

- sorption in adsorbers with subsequent transformation by chemical reactions

(chemisorption);
- secondary reactions in the gas volume, mainly hydrolysis with residual moisture;

Page 13 of 59
- secondary reactions at the surfaces of the enclosure, mainly hydrolysis with surface
adsorbed moisture and reactions with metal oxides/hydroxides and silicon containing
substances such as quartz fillers in polymeric insulators.

In switchgear the sorption in the adsorber is the dominant removal mechanism. The two
other processes are relatively unimportant from a quantitative point of view. The presence
of the adsorber has the consequence that high concentrations of decomposition products
cannot build up permanently. Only in the rare event of a short-term high level switching
activity, such as a heavy short circuit interruption, an increased concentration may exist for
a time interval determined by the speed of the adsorption process, typically several hours
to a few days.

Failure Arcs

Failure arcs are the result of insulation breakdown or switchgear interruption failure and
occur extremely rarely. In these events the arc burns mainly between metallic materials,
which are not designed for arcing such as aluminium, copper and steel. These materials
have relatively high arc erosion rates. Additionally, the current is frequently in the short
circuit range. The amount of arc eroded material and the corresponding quantity of gas
decomposition products can reach concentrations in the range of several percent by
volume [1.10]. In addition to that, solid decomposition products (metal fluorides and oxy-
fluorides) may be formed in higher quantity.

4.1.5 Mechanical Generation of Dust Particles

Metal dust particles may be generated by mechanical friction of metal surfaces. In

properly designed equipment these particles usually fall into areas where they have no
effect on the insulation integrity of the installation. If however they fall into an area of high
electrical field stress such as an insulating barrier they may cause tracking on the insulator
surface and flashover (breakdown). Therefore, wherever gas is handled, care has to be
taken to remove particles by appropriate dust filters.

4.2 Effects of Contamination

A functional deterioration of equipment by SF6 contaminants can, in a general sense, be

viewed in the following six respects:

- Health risk;
- Corrosion;
- Insulation performance of gas gaps;
- Insulation performance of insulator surfaces;
- Switching capability (for switchgear only);
- Heat transfer.

Most of the reactive SF6 decomposition products and their follow-up reaction products
have toxicities comparable to SO2 and therefore may constitute a health risk if present in
too high concentrations.

Some of the reactive decomposition products are corrosive (i.e.: SF4 and HF) and may
react with inappropriate materials used in the equipment design. In particular, they may
affect surface insulation by the formation of conductive layers along insulators [1.14]. The
Page 14 of 59
corrosive effects are controlled by the absolute partial pressure of the corrosive agent.
Modern designs, however, avoid the use of corrosion sensitive materials.

Some of the contaminants are chemically inert such as air, CF4 and moisture may affect
the gas insulation capability and the circuit-breaker switching performance, if present in too
high concentrations. They may also have an influence on the convective heat transfer by
the insulating gas. These influences all enter approximately proportionally, i.e. they are
controlled by the relative concentrations of the contaminants.

With respect to condensed (liquid and solid) contaminants three categories have to be
distinguished:

Form a theoretical point of view; the main conducting liquid contaminant is water
condensing from water vapour (moisture) in the form of water droplets or films. As water
has an extremely high dielectric constant and a high electric conductivity it causes local
field enhancements at droplets and conducting surface films along insulators, both of
which deteriorate the insulation performance. It has to be noted that moisture condensing
in the form of ice does not affect insulation [1.13] [1.15].
Moisture is mainly introduced by de-sorption from surfaces and from the bulk of polymers,
see Appendix 4, Section 4. Its condensation is controlled by the absolute moisture, which
is best expressed in terms of the partial water vapour pressure pH2O. Liquid condensation
occurs for pH2O > 611 Pa and temperatures above 0 oC.
Besides water, oil may be deposited on insulators where it may be carbonised by thermal
or chemical reactions and thus give rise to the formation of conductive surface layers. As
this contaminant is very difficult to control it should, where possible, be avoided
completely, e.g. by using oil-free lubrication and by handling the gas exclusively with oil-
free equipment.

Non-conducting solid decomposition products are generated from arc eroded metals by
reaction with dissociated SF6 [1.11]. They mainly consist of copper fluoride CuF2, tungsten
oxide WO3, the tungsten oxyfluorides WO2F2 and WOF4 originating from switchgear
contact erosion ("switching dust") and aluminium fluoride Al F3 in case of internal arcing.
They are non-critical for insulation as long as they are not exposed to excessive moisture.
They have to be taken into consideration only when released from the enclosure on the
occasion of repair or failure because they may carry toxic and corrosive gases in adsorbed
form.

Conducting solid contaminants such as carbon and metal dust may become critical when
deposited on field-exposed insulator surfaces as conducting layer. Carbon may be
generated by carbonisation of polymeric materials. Metallic dust particles generated by
mechanical friction may be transported by gas flow.

An overview over the major contaminants, their origin, and their deteriorating effects is
given in the first 3 columns of Table 1 in Section 4.3.2.
Appendix 1 contains a detailed discussion of the above mentioned degradation
mechanisms and an approximate derivation of impurity levels below which functional
deterioration effects can be excluded.

Page 15 of 59
4.3 Maximum tolerable impurity levels for the reuse of SF6 in electrical equipment

4.3.1 Summary of measurement units for impurities

Impurity levels in gases can be measured in various units the most important of which are
summarized below for reference:

Mass-based concentrations:

ppmw = mg/kg = µg/g: parts per million by mass ( = “weight” = w)

Volume based concentrations:

% vol : percent by volume

ppmv = µl/l = ml/m3: parts per million by volume

Mass-volume based concentration:

mg/m3

This latter unit is frequently used for finely dispersed condensed contaminants such as oil
mist and dust of solid particles, because it is directly measurable by the weight increase of
a filter through which a gas volume has been passed.

For gaseous contaminants the following relations can convert volume concentrations into
mass concentrations:

cH2O [ppmv] = cH2O [ppmw] / (Mcont/M0)

cH2O [ppmw] = cH2O [ppmv] (Mcont/M0)

where Mcont and M0 are the molecular mass of the contaminant and the background gas,
respectively.

For moisture additional units are in use such as the partial water vapour pressure pH2O,
the dew point Td determined at the pressure p at which the gas is used and the dew point
Td0 determined after expanding a gas sample from the pressure p to atmospheric pressure
p0 = 100 kPa. A detailed discussion of these units is given in Appendix 4, Section 2.

As the use of the different units can lead to confusion it is recommended that impurity
levels be preferentially specified in terms of volume concentrations such as %vol
and/or ppmv. This has the advantages that the impurity levels:

- Are independent of the chemical composition of the background gas and thus do not
only apply to pure SF6 but also to arbitrary SF6 mixtures
- Are independent of the gas temperature
- Remain unchanged when the gas is compressed or expanded during a gas transfer
process
- Are, in the case of gases and vapours, equal to the ratio of the partial pressures of the
impurities to the pressure of the background gas.

If other units should be needed they can be calculated by the conversion rules given
above. For dew points see Appendix 4, Section 2.

Page 16 of 59
4.3.2 Derivation of maximum tolerable impurity levels for reuse

Four types of contaminants are to be distinguished, namely,

- Non-reactive gases;
- Reactive (toxic and/or corrosive) gases;
- Moisture (water vapour);
- Condensed contaminants (oil, dust).

The choice of maximum tolerable impurity levels for reuse is based on:

- The maximum tolerable levels in equipment, i.e. the impurity levels above which the
function of the equipment starts deteriorating or health risk occurs. These levels have
been transferred from Table 9 in Appendix 1 and are represented in the 4th column of
Table 1.
- The impurity detection sensitivity, i.e. the levels which can be detected with practical
equipment. These levels are represented in the 6th column of Table 1.
- The avoidance of functional over-specifications, which would lead to an increase of
the cost of gas handling and thus discourage reuse.

Non-toxic and non-corrosive gases are tolerable in equipment up to 3% vol (see

Appendix 1). The level for reuse is chosen equal to this value because a safety margin is
not required.

For reactive (toxic and corrosive) gases toxic risk turns out to be the most critical issue. A
sum concentration of all toxic gases is specified with a safety margin of a factor of two
under the worst case assumption that only the most toxic gases are present.

For moisture, three basic levels are essential, namely,

- The moisture level above which liquid condensation occurs and which, in terms of the
partial water vapour pressure, is 611 Pa [1.16].
- The maximum tolerable level in equipment according to IEC 60694, which was
chosen to safely exclude liquid condensation. It is specified by a dew point of –5 oC
which corresponds to a water vapour pressure of 400 Pa [1.16], which is about two
thirds of the liquid condensation level of pH2O = 611 Pa.
- The basic moisture level in equipment which is typically in the range of some 100 …
300 Pa [1.15]. This level is established as result of sorption-de-sorption processes at
the inner surfaces of the equipment and the adsorbers and thus is a characteristic of
the enclosure design and state. It can not be reduced by filling in dry gas because the
surfaces and adsorber contain about two orders of magnitude more moisture than
could be carried in by moist gas (see Appendix 4, Section 4).

It is therefore considered as adequate to require, as criterion for reuse, that the water
vapour pressure in the gas should not exceed 150 Pa, which corresponds to a dew point
of –15 oC [1.16]. This level provides a safety margin of a factor of 2.7 with respect to the
maximally admissible level in equipment (400 Pa) and a margin of a factor of 4 with
respect to the level above which liquid condensation would occur (611 Pa).

Figure 1 reports the above discussed moisture levels in terms of the recommended
preferential measurement unit ppmv and the operating pressure p.

Page 17 of 59
Figure 1: Moisture levels [ppmv] in dependence of gas pressure p. Uppermost
curve: Liquid condensation limit (611 Pa, Td = 0 °C). Middle curve: Maximum
concentration in equipment according to IEC 60694 (400 Pa, Td = -5 °C). Lower
curve: Proposed maximum tolerable level for reuse (150 Pa, Td = - 15 °C). Step
curve: proposal for simplification distinguishing between low (< 200 kPa) and
complete (< 850 kPa) range of reuse pressures.

2000

1500
Moisture (ppmv)

Td =
0 °C
1000 (con
den
750 ppmv Td = - satio
5 °C n)
(IEC
6069
4 lim
i t)
500
Td = - 15 °C
200 ppmv (reuse li m
it)

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Absolute Pressure (kPa)

As the ppmv values are obtained as the ratio of the water vapour pressure pH2O to the gas
pressure p they are inversely depending on the gas pressure p. The ppmv scale allows to
directly reading the safety margins between the three curves for liquid condensation, IEC
60694 and the proposed maximum impurity level for reuse.

For practical reasons it is considered cumbersome to determine the ppmv levels for reuse
for each pressure separately. It is therefore proposed to simplify the moisture criterion
for reuse by defining the low range of reuse pressures within the complete range of reuse
pressures as indicated by the step curve:

- The complete SF6 reuse pressure range below 850 kPa covers both HV and MV
insulation systems as well as all circuit breakers. The required general purpose
reclaiming equipment has to compress SF6 to liquefaction.
- The low SF6 reuse pressure range below 200 kPa is only for the MV insulation
systems. Low cost reclaiming devices are available and can be utilised, as there is no
need to compress SF6 to liquefaction and therefore provides better economy for this
application.

The reuse criteria for both pressure ranges are chosen such that the limit curve
corresponding to a water vapour pressure of 150 Pa is practically fulfilled at the highest
reuse pressure in the range, namely, at 200 kPa for the low pressure range and at 850
kPa for the complete pressure range.
Page 18 of 59
For solid contaminants limit concentrations have not been established, hitherto.
However, practical experience has shown that fine-pore dust filters can efficiently remove
these contaminants. Table 1 therefore contains, instead of maximum tolerable impurity
levels, the condition that a dust filter of a pore size of 1 µm should remove solid
contaminants.

Similarly, for oil contamination, limit concentrations have not been established. It is
therefore recommended that this impurity be avoided by minimising or eliminating the use
of oil for lubrication in the SF6 insulated equipment and by using completely oil-free gas
handling and reclaiming equipment. If the presence of oil can not be excluded, a special
oil filter should be inserted into the reclaimer. Practical experience shows that such a filter
reduces the oil content down to less than 1 mg/m3. For further details see Appendix 1.

Page 19 of 59
Table 1: SF6 contaminants; main origins, deteriorating effects, maximum tolerable
levels in equipment, proposed maximum tolerable impurity levels for reuse of
reclaimed SF6, and practical impurity detection sensitivities.
Proposed
Maximum Practical
maximum
Deteriorating tolerable impurity
Contaminant Main origin tolerable
effects impurity levels detection
impurity levels
in equipment sensitivity
for reuse
Non-reactive
gases: Reduction of
Air Handling switching
performance
3% vol 3% vol total < 1% vol
Reduction of
CF4 Switching insulation
performance
Reactive gases
or vapours:

SF4, WF6 Arcing Toxicity 100 ppmv ~ 10 ppmv

50 ppmv total 1)
total
SOF4, SO2F2 Partial Surface
discharge insulation by
SOF2, SO2, HF Follow-up corrosion 2000 ppmv
reactions
Moisture pH2O< 150 Pa
(Td < -15 °C)
Surface
Desorption
insulation by 750 ppmv for
from surfaces pH2O<400Pa 2) < 10 Pa 4)
and polymers
liquid p < 200 kPa 3)
condensation
200 ppmv for
p < 850 kPa 3)
Oil Pumps,
lubrication, Surface
bushings to oil insulation by not quantified 10 mg/m3 5) < 1 mg/m3
insulated carbonisation
equipment
Dust
Carbon Arcing, partial
discharges Surface
insulation by Should be
Assembling, conducting removed by dust
Dust/particles mechanical deposits, gas Not quantified filter of pore size
wear and surface < 1 µm
insulation
Switching dust: Contact
CuF2, WOxFy, erosion by
arcing

1) or, equivalently, 12 ppmv SO2 + SOF2, see Appendix 2, Section 2.

2) Based on IEC 60694 and corresponding to a dew point of Td = -5oC.
3) Within the complete range of reuse pressures p < 850 kPa, covering all possible applications (both HV
and MV insulation systems as well as all circuit breakers), the low reuse pressure range p < 200 kPa
has been defined to highlight low pressure insulation systems (typically applied in MV distribution).
4) corresponding to a dew point Td = –45 oC
5) Corresponding to 0.3 ppmw in pure SF6 at 500 kPa

Page 20 of 59
4.3.3 Relation to other standards

The impurity levels referring to SF6 used in electric power equipment are summarised in
Table 2 and presently include 3 IEC standards:

IEC 60376 [1.16] (presently under revision) determines the purity requirements for new
SF6 as provided by SF6 producers.

IEC 60694 [1.17] (presently under revision) specifies the maximum tolerable moisture level
for gas in equipment, i.e. after it has been filled into equipment.

IEC 60480 [1.18] (presently under revision) will specify the purity requirements for reuse
of reclaimed gas.

Equipment users should check for local standards, which may deviate from the IEC
standards.

Table 2: Comparison of impurity levels according to the IEC standards 60376 and
60694 and levels proposed by CIGRE for the revision of IEC 60480. All levels are
expressed in concentrations (% vol and ppmv) and are independent of temperature
and are also valid for arbitrary SF6 mixtures.
Contaminant Maximum tolerable levels

IEC 60376 IEC 60480 IEC 60694

New SF6 Reclaimed SF6 for reuse SF6 in equipment
1st Ed. 1971 Ed. 2.1 2001
(under revision) (under revision)
CIGRE proposal (under revision)
Non-reactive
gases
3%vol total
Air 0.05 %
CF4, C2F6, 0.05 %
Reactive
gases
WF6, SOF4
SOF2,SO2, 1 ppmw total 50 ppmv total 1)
SO2F2
SF4, HF
Moisture Dew point < - 5 °C
750 ppmv for p < 200 kPa 2) corresponding to
15 ppmw
200 ppmv for p < 850 kPa 2) 2000 ppmv at 200 kPa
470 ppmv at 850 kPa
Condensed
contaminants 10 mg/m3
(oil and dust)

1) or, equivalently, 12 ppmv SO2 + SOF2, see Appendix 2, Section 2.

2) Within the complete range of reuse pressures p < 850 kPa, covering all possible applications (both HV
and MV insulation systems as well as all circuit breakers), the low reuse pressure range p < 200 kPa
has been defined to highlight low pressure insulation systems (typically applied in MV distribution).

Page 21 of 59
A comparison of the values in Table 2 shows that the reuse criteria proposed by CIGRE
lies substantially above the new gas criteria (IEC 60376) and leaves adequate safety
margins with respect to the levels in equipment (IEC 60694), as far as moisture is
concerned. In order to encourage SF6 reuse, the CIGRE proposal restricts the purity
requirements to the functionally necessary levels.

5 RECLAIMING SF6 FROM ELECTRICAL POWER EQUIPMENT

5.1 General Considerations

Reclaiming of SF6 gas for reuse is a process the basic structure of which is represented in
the following Figure 2.

Figure 2: Basic structure of the SF6 reclaiming process.

Suited for the

Non arced complete range
of reuse pressures

Reclaiming
Electric Suited for the
Normally equipment Quality
Power low range
arced and check
Equipment of reuse pressures
procedure

Heavily Not suited

arced for reuse

Category of
Gas categories Gas categories
reclaimer and
for reclaiming for reuse
procedure

Before the gas is recovered from the electric power equipment it has to be assigned a gas
category for reclaiming. This category is based on the severity of contamination with the
levels non-arced, normally arced and heavily arced. Based on this category an adequate
reclaimer and reclaiming procedure are chosen. After the gas has passed the
reclaiming process it has to undergo a quality check by which it is assigned one of the
following three categories:

- The higher gas category for reuse is “suited for the complete range of reuse
pressures”. This gas can be reused in electric power equipment without any limitations.
- The lower gas category for reuse is “suited for the low range of reuse pressures”. This
gas can only be reused in equipment with filling pressures up to 200 kPa.
- The lowest gas category is “not suited for reuse”. This gas requires further treatment,
usually off-site.

The following sections describe the reclaiming process in detail.

Page 22 of 59
5.2 Gas Categorisation

With respect to the use in electric power equipment four SF6 gas categories are
distinguished:

New gas: Gas supplied in cylinders as provided by the original SF6 gas producers and
complying with a standard for new SF6 such as the IEC Standard 60376 or a national
standard e.g. ASTMD 2742-92. Once the gas has left the cylinders in which it was
supplied by the producer, it has to be considered as used gas and has to be assigned one
of the three following categories.

Non-arced gas: Gas that has been handled in any way and has not experienced arcing.
Non-arced gas is to be expected at:

- Insulation testing in the factory;

- Insulation testing on-site during erection / commissioning;
- Routine maintenance of insulation compartments;
- Repair of insulation compartments after malfunction without arcing;
- Retrofitting of insulation compartments;
- Decommissioning of insulation compartments in which arcing has not occurred.

The major contaminants in non-arced gas may be air (mainly introduced by handling) and
moisture (mainly desorbed from surfaces). Small quantities of SF6 decomposition products
(typically in the 100 ppmv range) may also be present when strong partial discharges have
occurred in the gas and no adsorbers were provided.

Normally arced gas: Gas recovered from switchgear compartments after normal
switching operation. Normally arced gas is to be expected at:

- Maintenance and repair of switching devices after normal (load or fault) operation;
- Interruption testing during switchgear development;
- Decommissioning of switchgear.

Normally arced gas may contain, in addition to air and moisture:

- The inert gas CF4 generated by arc erosion of polymers;

- Corrosive gaseous SF6 decomposition products up to about a few 100 ppmv as
residues which have not been removed by adsorbers;
- Solid decomposition products, mainly metal fluorides and tungsten oxifluorides, usually
referred to as "switching dust".

Heavily arced gas: Gas recovered from equipment in which failure arcing has occurred.
Heavily arced gas is to be expected from:

- Circuit breakers after interruption failure;

- Insulation compartments after internal arcing failure;
- Any kind of arcing failure.

In this case, high levels of solid and gaseous contaminants have to be expected. The
gaseous contaminants may reach levels of several % vol, of which a substantial fraction
can be highly reactive and toxic and/or corrosive. The solid contaminants will generally be
charged with adsorbed reactive gaseous contaminants.

Page 23 of 59
For the determination of the gas category two methods can be used (individually or in
combination):

- The simplest and most frequently used method is to infer the gas category from the
knowledge of the equipment and previous operation history.
- In relatively rare cases, in which it is not possible to infer the gas category or in which
there is doubt about the "history" of the gas, a gas sample has to be analysed for the
concentration c(SO2+SOF2) of the indicator gases SO2 and/or SOF2. Based on experience
from development testing and field sampling, this measurement can be used for the
following order-of-magnitude criterion:
• If c(SO2+SOF2) < 100 ppmv then non-arced gas can be assumed;
• If c(SO2+SOF2) > 1 % vol then heavily arced gas has to be assumed.

If the analysis cannot be carried out, the gas has to be considered as heavily arced,
for safety reasons.

5.3 Reclaiming Equipment

Gas reclaimers have been used successfully since the introduction of SF6 technology.
Standard reclaimers are commercially available in a variety of sizes, processing speeds
and storage capacities and range from small portable to large trailer mounted systems.
The appropriate type and size of the reclaimer should be chosen according to the gas
quantity to be handled. The choice should also consider whether the reclaimer has to
operate as a stationary or transportable device. Among the transportable devices, low
cost portable versions operating at low pressure levels without SF6 liquefaction are of
particular interest to enable reuse also under conditions where general purpose reclaimers
are not available.

Figure 3 shows the basic functional scheme of a general purpose SF6 reclaimer.

Figure 3: Functional scheme of a general purpose SF6 reclaimer.

SF6 Reclai mer

Pre-filter
Recover
SF6 insulated
equipment
Refill
air Air to
particle filter vacuum pump
atmosphere
Possible
further purity SF6 vacuum
check compressor

SF6 piston Yes Purity No Further

compressor check treatment

Gas/humidity SF6 storage

filters container

Page 24 of 59
The major components of a general purpose SF6 reclaimer are:

- Filters;
- Compressor(s);
- Vacuum pump;
- Intermediate storage container.

The general purpose reclaimer operates in the following way:

Gas recovery and reclaiming: The SF6 is extracted from the gas-insulated equipment
using compressor(s). It is then processed through a series of filters and compressed into
an intermediate storage container.

Quality check: The suitability of the processed gas for reuse has to be verified by a purity
check of the intermediate storage container (for details see Section 5.5) to assess
compliance with the reuse criteria (see section 4.3).

Reuse: Reclaimed SF6 complying with the reuse criteria can be filled into equipment like
new SF6. The details of evacuation of SF6 and subsequent gas filling are described in IEC
61634. For carrying out the evacuation the reclaimer is equipped with a vacuum pump.
After a sufficient vacuum level has been reached with this pump, the SF6 can be refilled
into the equipment from the intermediate storage container. The reclaimer must be
designed such as to avoid re-introducing contaminants during gas transfer. It is
advantageous to use separate piping for recovery and refill and/or properly placed particle
filters to avoid particulate contamination to be carried into the equipment with the filled-in
gas.

Different kinds of general-purpose SF6 reclaimers are also available on the market. They
operate within a lower pressure range and use cryo-technology for gas liquefaction and
purification. They have, as additional elements, cooling aggregates and condensers.

Figure 4 shows the basic functional scheme of a low-pressure reuse SF6 reclaimer.

Figure 4: Low-pressure reuse SF6 reclaimer using a lightweight pump and an

intermediate storage at ambient pressure.

reuse

p0 < 200 kPa p ~ 100 kPa

recovery

Equipment Pump Filter Low pressure

pressure storage
differential container
~1:100

Page 25 of 59
As it can be observed from the picture, the device is lightweight and portable. It consists of
a small pump with a recovery pressure differential of typically 1:100 and a low-weight
intermediate storage container (i.e.: a MV insulation enclosure or a metal coated balloon).
The intermediate storage of the gas is performed at about ambient pressure. This concept
is of particular interest for applications in which SF6 has to be handled at pressures of
around 100 kPa, such in MV distribution equipment.

An overview over the major filter types as the essential components for the gas purification
process is given in Table 3. Details on the design of these filters, the reclaimer
components and reclaimer operations are given in Appendix 3.

Table 3: Filter types used in SF6 reclaimers

Filter Type Tasks Major characteristics
Particle filter Removes solid
decomposition products
Pore size 1 µm
and other particles at input
of reclaimer
Gas/moisture filter Removes gaseous Residual moisture < 100 ppmv.
decomposition products Residual SO2+SOF2 < 12 ppmv.
and moisture Particle retention ability
Prefilter Reduces concentrations of Pore size 10 µm (low through-
solid and gaseous flow resistance).
decomposition products at Residual moisture < 200 ppmv.
input of reclaimer in case Residual reactive products <
of heavily contaminated 200 ppmv.
gas Oil holdback ability.
Detoxification filter Reduces reactive
decomposition products to
below 200 ppmv so that Same as Prefilter
the gas can be transported
as non-toxic
Oil filter Removes oil Special filter equipped with
visual oil indicators at input and
output

The main characteristics of a reclaimer are:

- SF6 capacity of the intermediate storage container Mst [kg];

- Intermediate storage pressure pst [kPa] or [bar];
- Storage method;
- Processing speed during recovery (kg/h).

Possible storage methods, implemented in the intermediate storage container in the

reclaimer, are reported in Section 6.2.

5.4 Reclaiming Procedures

The main elements of the gas reclaiming procedures are:

- Determination of the gas category;

Page 26 of 59
- Selection of filters;
- Gas purification by filtering;
- Quality checks;
- Handling of gas that results non-reusable.

These procedural elements will be discussed separately in the following subsections for
the three gas categories.

5.4.1 Non-arced gas

Filters: Input particle filter and standard gas/moisture filter.

Quality checks after filtering:

Non-reactive gases: These may have been introduced by handling and are not removed
by the filters. They should be checked in the storage container.

SO2/SOF2: No check is required as these gases are only present in very small quantities
in the recovered gas and have been removed by the gas/moisture filter.

Moisture: Moisture will also have been removed. Moisture check immediately after
refilling into the equipment is recommended to ensure that moisture has not been
introduced during the filling process.

If there should be any doubt about the functionality of the reclaimer (possible saturation of
the gas/moisture filter, improper maintenance etc.) it is recommended that the moisture in
the storage container be checked before reusing the gas as a means of verifying the
reclaimer performance.

Handling of non-reusable gas. Non-arced gas can only result in being non-reusable
because of contamination with non-reactive gases (essentially air) originating from
handling errors. Gas thus contaminated can be rendered reusable by a special purification
process generally only available at a gas recycling company. As the contaminants are
non-toxic, the gas can be transported to the recycling company under the same conditions
as for new SF6 [See Chapter 6].

5.4.2 Normally arced gas

Filters: Input particle filter and standard gas/moisture filter.

Quality checks after filtering:

Non-reactive gases: These may be present in the reclaimed gas due to the CF4
generated by arc erosion of polymeric materials and air introduced by handling. Checks
for these contaminants should be performed on the gas in the storage container.

SO2/SOF2: Although these gases should have been removed by the gas/moisture filter it
is recommended that checks for these contaminants should be performed on the gas in
the storage container to ensure that the reclaimer filters have been working effectively.

Page 27 of 59
Moisture: If the SO2/SOF2 check yields an acceptable result it can be assumed that the
gas/moisture filter has also removed the moisture. It is therefore generally considered
sufficient to check for moisture immediately after having refilled the reclaimed gas into the
equipment.

Handling of non-reusable gas. Arced gas may result in being non-reusable after
reclaiming for two reasons:

(1) The gas may be contaminated with non-reactive gases, which cannot be removed by
the filters. In this case further treatment is required. As the non-reactive contaminants
are non-toxic, the gas can be transported to the recycling company as for new SF6
[See Chapter 6].

(2) The gas may be contaminated with reactive gaseous decomposition products because
the gas/moisture filter has not been working effectively. In this case the gas can be
passed through the reclaimer for a second time after the filters have been renewed.

5.4.3 Heavily arced gas

Filters: In addition to the input particle filter and the standard gas/moisture filter, a high
capacity pre-filter is recommended to remove the bulk of particles and reactive gaseous
decomposition products.

Quality control: All three contaminants have to be checked in the storage container
according to the complete procedure of Figure 5.

Handling on non-reusable gas: The reclaimed gas may result in being non-reusable for
three reasons:

(1) If the gas is only contaminated with non-reactive gases (particularly CF4 due to strong
arc erosion of polymeric materials or air due to handling errors) it requires further
treatment. As the contaminants are non-toxic, the gas can be transported to a
recycling company as for new SF6 [See Chapter 6].

(2) If the gas is only contaminated with reactive gaseous decomposition products (because
the filter system has not been able to reduce these contaminants to a sufficiently low
level) the gas can be passed through the reclaimer for a second time after renewal of
the gas/moisture filter.

(3) If the gas is contaminated with both non-reactive and reactive gases, further treatment
is required. It is suggested that the gas be passed through a detoxification filter to
reduce the concentration of the reactive decomposition products to below 200 ppmv.
The gas can then be transported to the recycling company under the same conditions
as for new SF6 [See Chapter 6].

(4) In the unlikely event that even with further treatment and multiple filtration the gas
cannot be detoxified, it has to be transported as toxic gas. For details see Section 6.4.

Page 28 of 59
5.5 Gas Quality Checks

The quality checks of the reclaimed gas are performed to check if the residual impurity
levels do not exceed the values specified for reuse, as proposed in Table 1 and to be
finally defined in the revised standard IEC 60480 [1.18].

There are five basic concepts for carrying out the quality checks of the reclaimed gas:

(1) Continuous monitoring of all contaminant levels in the storage container, or in the
transfer gas flow form the storage container to the power equipment and triggering an
alarm if one of them exceeds the limit specified in the purity requirements. While this
would be the most desirable concept, detectors with continuous monitoring ability are
currently not available at acceptable cost. However, with the intense development
activity in the field of gas sensors they may well be available in the near future.

(2) Periodical check of the contaminant levels in the storage container using portable or
fixed detectors. This is currently common practice.

(3) Checking the gas before refilling it into equipment to avoid equipment
contamination.

(4) “Post-refill” checking, i.e. checking the gas only after it has been re-filled into electric
power equipment. Although this procedure may accelerate gas handling, the risk
associated with it is that excessive contamination, if present, may only become
apparent when it has resulted in equipment damage. As an example, gas containing
excessive moisture could load adsorbers and the internal surfaces of the equipment.
Post re-fill checking may be justified where high contaminant levels in the reclaimed
gas are not to be expected or where the reclaiming equipment is so well maintained
that its cleaning efficiency can be assured.

(5) Laboratory analysis of a gas sample of the reclaimed SF6. Although this would be
the most accurate way to determine contaminant levels, this concept would cause a
substantial time delay as well as an uncertainty about additional contaminants that
might be introduced by sampling or by chemical reactions during sample
transportation. This concept is therefore limited to exceptional cases or to confirm a
previously measured result.

Gas sampling procedure: When the gas is not compressed to liquefaction gas sampling
is not problematic. However, when a gas sample has to be taken from a container with
liquefied SF6, it has to be taken from the liquid phase. With fixed installed containers the
sampling valve should therefore be installed at the lowest point of the container. If
standard gas cylinders are used as containers, only the standard valve at the head of the
cylinder is available for gas sampling. In order to obtain a sample from the liquid phase,
the cylinder has to be tilted upside down so that the liquid SF6 covers the valve. It has to
stay in this position for at least 2 minutes to allow for fluid gas collection at the valve and
gas bubble removal. Care should be taken to minimise the sampling flow through the
connection tubing to the measurement devices so that the liquid SF6 can vaporise before
entering the measurement devices, as liquid SF6 may cause incorrect readings.

The levels of three contaminant types have to be checked, namely,

- The total of non-reactive gaseous contaminants (mainly air, nitrogen and CF4);
Page 29 of 59
- The total of the reactive gaseous decomposition products;
- Moisture

Contaminants such as oil, dust, and particles normally do not have to be verified because
reclaimers are designed in such a way that the filters specified in Table 3 remove them.

The sequence in which the three categories of contaminants are best checked and the
actions required from resultant measurements are shown schematically in Figure 5. The
square boxes represent the checking measurements and the diamond symbols represent
comparisons of the measured levels with the limits specified by purity requirements. The
round elements represent the further action to be taken in response to the result. The
figure specifies a complete sequence of checks, which may not be necessary in all cases.
Under specific circumstances some of the measurements may be omitted, refer to Section
5.4.

The measurement devices required for performing gas quality checks are generally
portable but may also be an integral part of the reclaimer.

The content of inert gases such as air and CF4 are best determined with SF6 detectors,
which are based on velocity of sound or thermal conductivity measurements. They directly
measure the SF6 concentration (usually in % vol) so that the impurity level results as the
difference between 100% and the SF6 concentration. Note that the direct measurement of
the inert gases is not practical. The measurement precision of the SF6 concentration is
typically of the order of ±1 %.

When checking for reactive gaseous decomposition products, it is usually impractical

to measure the sum of all products. As discussed in Appendix 2, a measurement of
reactive decomposition products can be replaced by a measurement of indicator gases
such as SO2 and SOF2, which roughly constitute one fourth of the total quantity of the
reactive gases. The impurity level for reuse for the total of reactive gases according to
Table 1, namely, 50 ppmv, thus translates into an equivalent limit for the practical
detection level of the indicator reactive gases, SO2 and SOF2, of about one fourth of 50
ppmv, i.e.: roughly 12 ppmv. Reaction tubes sensitive to SO2 and SOF2 can measure
these levels. They are sensitive down to a few ppmv, which corresponds to a sensitivity of
some tens ppmv for the total of these products. There are indications that continuously
operating chemical sensors might become available in the future.

Moisture can be measured by dew point meters, reaction tubes, and electronic sensors
and can be expressed in different units (see Appendix 4 Section 2). Water vapour
pressures can be measured down to better than ±10 Pa. For details see Appendix 4.

It has to be noted that the devices for gas quality checking do not need to be full-range
measurement devices. As they only have to detect the compliance or non-compliance with
the impurity levels of Table 1, they only have to serve as level indicators. This means that
their measurement range only needs to cover the vicinity of these limit levels.

The impurity detection sensitivities given in the 6th column of Table 1 represent the
present state of the art of practically usable devices. It has to be noted that more sensitive
detection techniques exist, such as gas chromatography, infrared absorption spectrometry
and optical particle detection techniques. These techniques are, however, not practical on-
site as they are relatively expensive and require advanced personnel skills. For further

Page 30 of 59
details on contaminant measurements the reader may refer to Appendix 2 and Appendix
4.

Figure 5: Standard procedure for gas quality check.

Reuse

Below
threshold level

H2 O
Below
threshold level
Above
SO2 threshold level
Below +
threshold level SOF2
Reclaimed
Above
Gas
Air threshold level
CF4
Above
Reprocess
threshold level
After Renewing
Further Filters
Treatment

5.6 SF6 services

SF6 users who only use very low gas quantities and/or have to handle the gas on rare
occasions may find it too expensive to invest in their own recovery equipment. It may then
be more cost efficient to use the services provided by specialized recycling companies
such as equipment manufacturers service organisations, reclaimer manufacturers etc.
Such services are emerging with increasing demand.

6 STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION OF USED SF6

6.1 Gas categories

With respect to storage and transportation three gas categories have to be distinguished:

(1) SF6, which complies with IEC 60480, i.e. which is suited for reuse in electric
power equipment

(2) SF6 which does not comply with IEC 60480 and contains toxic by-products

(3) SF6 which does not comply with IEC 60480 and contains toxic and corrosive
by-products

Page 31 of 59
6.2 Storage

Table 4 gives an overview of all possible storage methods, which a storage container may
be based on.

Table 4: Storage Methods

Method Requirements Features
Gaseous Typical pressure < 20 bar. Requires relatively small recovery
Gas remains in the pressure differential (typically
gaseous state. 100:1) but needs larger storage
volumes. Gas cannot be liquefied
in cylinders for transportation.
Therefore it is limited to small
quantities (200 kg) and stationary
use.
Liquid-Cooling Typical pressure 30 bar. Requires relatively small recovery
Assisted Employs additional cooling pressure differential (700:1) but
system to cool SF6 after needs cooling aggregate.
compression, which allows Performance of cooling aggregate
SF6 to be stored in liquid can influence processing speed.
form. Additional maintenance
requirements. Limited storage
volume required and generally not
suitable for transportation
Liquid-Pressure Only Typical pressure=50 bar. Requires recovery differential of
Gas compressed to 50 bar 1000:1 but eliminates the need of
will liquefy by pressure additional aggregates. Can be
only. used with any storage vessel
rated 50 bar or higher.

- Residual recovery pressure pres [kPa] or [mbar] (residual pressure in equipment down
to which the gas can be recovered and compressed to the rated storage pressure pst);
- Recovery pressure differential (performance indicator of compressor(s)): pst/pres;
- Recovery speed [m3/min]: Time required recovering a gas volume of 1 m3 from 500
kPa down to the specified residual recovery pressure pres;
- Evacuation speed [m3/min]: Time required to evacuate a volume of 1 m3 from
atmospheric pressure down to a residual air pressure of 100 Pa;
- Refill speed [kg/min]: Time required filling gas from the storage container at rated
storage pressure into the equipment at its rated operating pressure;
- Failsafe operation control (to avoid gas contamination by false handling);
- Filter exchange/handling/disposal facilities.

All above process speed characteristics refer to the assumption that there are no losses in
the piping between equipment and reclaimer.

When used SF6 has to be stored on-site, the storage containers for this purpose should
comply with the local pressure vessel regulations and should be labelled in compliance
with the regulations given below in section 6.4. For practical reasons it is recommended to
preferentially use transportable storage containers, wherever possible.

Page 32 of 59
6.3 Transportation containers

Each of the three gas categories requires a specific type of container and container
labelling, a specified in Table 5.

Table 5: Container types and labelling required for transportation of used SF6
Gas category Container type Container labelling
SF6, which complies Same type of container as Stencilled on container:
with IEC 60480, i.e. new SF6. 3163, sulphur hexafluoride,
which is suited for Note: Due to the inert gas carbon tetrafluoride or air or
reuse in electric content (N2, O2 etc.), the nitrogen 2)
power equipment filling factor 1) has to be less
than 0.8 kg/litre. Danger label 2
Recommendation:
Containers should be
specially coloured to avoid
confusion between used and
new gas (an orange band on
the upper third of the cylinder
is suggested).
SF6 which does not Stencilled on container:
comply with IEC 3163, sulphur hexafluoride,
60480 and contains hydrogen fluoride,
toxic by-products Same as above thionyfluoride 2)

Danger label 6.1

SF6 that does not Special containers Stencilled on container:

comply with IEC approved for storing and 3308, sulphur hexafluoride,
60480 and contains transportation of corrosive hydrogen fluoride,
toxic and corrosive gases (such as hydrofluoric thionylfluoride
by-products. acid HCl) with a corrosion-
proof valve and adapter Danger labels 6.1 + 8

1) The filling factor is the weight of SF6 contained in the container divided by the container volume and is
usually specified in kg/litre
2) Only the two most abundant contaminants have to be specified

6.4 Transportation modes

The following transportation modes are of interest:

(1) Transportation by road (ADR 2001);

(2) Rail transportation refer to local regulations;
(3) Transportation by ship (IMO);
(4) Air transportation refer to local regulations.

Internationally valid transportation regulations for SF6 are only available for transportation
by road (ADR) and by ship (IMO). For rail and air local regulations have to be observed.

Page 33 of 59
6.5 Regulations for road and ship transportation

The regulations for road and ship transportation are summarised in the following two
tables. They contain the items

- UN number with a short characterisation of the transport-relevant features of the gas;

- Class;
- Label(s);
- Final classification.

Table 6: SF6 transportation regulations by road (ADR 1999)

Regulations SF6 complying with IEC SF6 not complying SF6 not complying
60480 with IEC 60480 and with IEC 60480 and
containing toxic by- containing toxic and
products corrosive products
UN Number 3162 liquefied gas 3163 liquefied toxic 3308 liquefied toxic
gas and corrosive gas
Class 2A 2T 2TC
Danger label 2 6.1 6.1 + 8
Final UN 3162 liquefied gas, UN 3163 liquefied UN 3308 liquefied gas,
classification n.o.s, 2, 2° A gas, n.o.s, 2, 2° T n.o.s, 2, 2° TC
Transport 3162 liquefied gas, 3163 liquefied gas, 3308 liquefied gas,
document n.o.s. (sulphur toxic, n.o.s. (sulphur toxic, corrosive, n.o.s.
hexafluoride and air or hexafluoride and (sulphur hexafluoride
nitrogen or carbon hydrogen fluoride and and hydrogen fluoride
tetrafluoride) thionylfluoride and thionylfluoride

2,2 A ADR 2,2 T ADR 2,2 TC ADR

Table 7: SF6 transportation regulations by ship (IMO)

Category SF6 complying with SF6 not complying SF6 not complying
IEC 60480 with IEC 60480 and with IEC 60480 and
containing toxic by- containing toxic and
products corrosive products
UN number 3162 liquefied gas 3163 liquefied toxic 3308 liquefied toxic
gas and corrosive gas
Class 2.2 2.3 2.3
Additional label 8
Final UN 3162 liquefied UN 3163 liquefied UN 3308 liquefied
classification gas, n.o.s, gas, n.o.s, gas, n.o.s,
Transport 3162 liquefied gas, 3163 liquefied gas, 3308 liquefied gas,
document n.o.s. (sulphur toxic, n.o.s. (sulphur toxic, corrosive, n.o.s.
hexafluoride and air or hexafluoride and (sulphur hexafluoride
nitrogen or carbon hydrogen fluoride and and hydrogen fluoride
tetrafluoride) thionylfluoride and thionylfluoride

2,2 A ADR 2,2 T ADR 2,2 TC ADR

Page 34 of 59
7 REUSE OF RECYCLED GAS

Recycled gas complying with the purity requirements for reuse (as specified in
Table 1) can be reused in electric power equipment like new SF6.

The only distinction to be made is that:

- Gas suited for high pressure reuse can be reused in any equipment;
- Whereas gas suited for low pressure reuse can only be reused in equipment with
filling pressure below 200 kPa.

The procedures for filling gas into electrical power equipment are described, in general
terms, in the standard IEC 61634, section 2.5, [1.19]. As the details of the gas filling
procedures depend on the specific design features of the equipment, they have to be
defined by the equipment manufacturers.

With respect to moisture, it is essential to consider the following issues:

- Evacuation removes moisture from the interior of the compartment to a certain degree:
after having reached and kept for a certain time a sufficient vacuum level, the vacuum
stabilisation must be checked by closing the evacuation valve on the equipment and
waiting for a reasonable time. No excessive pressure raise should be detected. The
manufacturer of the equipment should specify the details, according to the above
mentioned IEC 61634, section 2.5, [1.19].
- Adsorbers should be designed to control any residual moisture, which can not be
removed by evacuation.

SF6 not suited for reuse has to be treated off-site by a recycling enterprise. This allows it to
be rendered usable in the majority of cases. In particular SF6 that has an excessive
contamination with non-reactive gases can be purified by specially equipped enterprises.

8 FINAL DISPOSAL OF USED SF6

In cases in which SF6 cannot be recycled nor is no longer needed it can be disposed of in
an environmentally compatible way by a thermal process. Heated to above 1000 oC, SF6
starts to dissociate in reactive fragments, which react with added substances, mainly
hydrogen and oxygen, to form SOx and HF. The SF6 gas can be destroyed with a removal
efficiency of greater than 99% when the thermal process operates at 1200 °C. The
reaction products are removed by passing the effluents of the reaction through a wet
scrubber filled with a calcium hydroxide solution (lime) with which they react to form solid
sulphates and fluorides, e.g. calcium sulphate (gypsum) and calcium fluoride (fluor spar).

Typical conversion reactions in the scrubber are

SO3 + Ca(OH)2 → CaS04 + H2O

2HF + Ca(OH)2 → CaF2 + H20

Gypsum CaSO4 is a natural mineral used in construction. Fluorspar CaF2 is a natural

mineral used as additive in toothpaste and other healthcare substances.

The process is a procedure very similar to other procedures of disposal and the cost today
is in the order of the price of new SF6.
Page 35 of 59
There are several incineration plants in different parts of the world that offer an SF6
destruction service. The equipment manufacturers should assist SF6 users in finding a
suitable plant.

9 CONCLUSIONS

(1) In order to avoid contamination of the atmosphere, recycling of SF6 is essential.

(2) Recycling equipment and procedures are available to allow, in the majority of cases,
economically favourable recycling of SF6.

(3) Properly recycled SF6 is suitable for reuse in electrical power equipment.

(4) Final disposal, by conversion into environmentally disposable materials, is feasible.

(5) All SF6 users should follow the recommendations for recycling.

(6) International standards need to be established to promote both recycling of SF6 and
use of recycled SF6.

10 RECOMMENDATIONS

10.1 General Recommendations

(1) The deliberate release of SF6 must be avoided.

(2) SF6 shall be recycled, i.e. reclaimed, reused or disposed of in an environmentally

compatible way.

(3) Purity standards for reusability have been proposed in this document and should be
integrated into the revised Standard IEC 60480.

(4) Standards for the determination of low leakage rates shall be defined.

(5) National agreements comply with National Voluntary Agreements resulting from the
“Kyoto Protocol”

10.2 Recommendations to Electrical Power Equipment Manufacturers

(1) Equipment manufacturers shall inform users on the recyclability of SF6 and other
materials contained within the equipment.

(2) Equipment manufacturers shall revise their statements to allow the reuse of SF6
fulfilling the purity requirements according to the revised IEC 60480.

(3) Equipment manufacturers shall encourage the reuse of SF6 and provide instruction and
technical support to the users.

(4) Equipment manufacturers shall recommend adequate and user-friendly recycling

equipment to the users.

Page 36 of 59
(5) Gas checking techniques for the detection of leakage in service shall be developed to
higher sensitivity.

(6) Records shall be kept of the SF6 quantities purchased, delivered to customers, and
returned to SF6 manufacturers or recycling companies.

10.3 Recommendations to Electrical Power Equipment Users who handle SF6

(1) Gas handling equipment or service contracts for gas handling shall be provided.

(2) Equipment users shall revise their operating instructions to allow the reuse of SF6
fulfilling the purity requirements according to the revised IEC 60480.

(3) The electrical power equipment shall be operated and maintained according to both
manufacturer specifications and state-of-the-art knowledge concerning best practice in
SF6 handling and recycling.

(4) Electrical power equipment with excess leakage shall be repaired or replaced.

(5) Records shall be kept of the installed SF6 inventory and of the SF6 quantities required
for operation and maintenance during equipment lifetime.

(6) Final disposal of electrical power equipment containing SF6 shall be given only to
authorised enterprises.

10.4 Recommendations to SF6 producers

(1) SF6 gas that cannot be reused shall be accepted for further purification or
environmentally correct final disposal.

(2) Records shall be kept of the SF6 quantities produced, sold, recycled and finally
disposed.

11 RECOMMENDED FURTHER WORK

(1) The revised IEC Standard 60480 should include the proposed purity requirements for
SF6 for reuse as proposed in this document. The standard should also discuss the
measurement techniques by which the compliance of SF6 with the standards
requirements can be verified.

(2) A global SF6 balance shall be set up.

(3) Appropriate test procedures should be investigated to prove leakage values lower than
0.5%/a in both routine and on-site testing.

(4) Standards for quantifying the performance of SF6 recycling equipment shall be defined.

(5) Cost feasibility studies on environmental improvement for gas insulating electrical
power equipment should be evaluated as a database for Life Cycle Costing (LCC).

Page 37 of 59
12 REFERENCES

[1.1] "Radiative forcing of climate change", the 1994 report of the scientific assessment
working group of IPCC, P.28.

[1.2] J. G. Owens, “Calculation of the global warming potential for sulfur hexafluoride
using the updated Atmospheric lifetime from Moore, et al.” 9th Intern. Sympos. on
Gaseous Dielectrics, Ellicott City MA, 2001

[1.3] CIGRE WG 23-02: "SF6 and the global atmosphere", ELECTRA 164, (1996), 121 -
131.

[1.4] “SF6 in the electric industry, status 2000”, ELECTRA, February 2002, pp. 16-25

[1.5] IEC Standard 60298 "A.C. metal-enclosed switchgear and controlgear for rated
voltages above 1kV and up to and including 52kV".

[1.6] L. Niemeyer, "S2F10 in SF6 insulated equipment", 7th Intern. Sympos. on Gaseous
Dielectrics, Knoxville TE, 1994.

[1.7] H. D. Morrison, V. P. Cronin, et al, "Production and decay of S2F10 in a disconnect

switch", pp 433-439 in Gaseous Dielectrics V11 ed LG Christophoron and D R
James, Phenum Press New York 1994.

[1.8] "Investigation of S2F10 production and mitigation in compressed SF6 - insulated

power systems", Final Report, Vol. 1 Executive Summary, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Oct. 1995.

[1.9] F. Y. Chu, "SF6 Decomposition in gas insulated equipment" IEEE Transactions on

electrical insulation, Vol. EE-21, No. 5, (1986), 693-725.

[1.10] S. Tominaga, H. Kuwahara et. al., "SF6 gas equipment", IEEE-PAS-100, (1981),
419-4206.

[1.11] C. Boudene, J.L. Clouet et al., "Identification and study of some properties of
compounds resulting from the decomposition of SF6 under the effect of electrical
arcing in circuit breakers", Rev. Gen. d'Electricite, Special Issue June 1974, 45-78.

[1.12] M. Piemontesi and W. Zaengl, "Analysis of decomposition products of sulphur

hexafluoride by spark discharges at different spark energies", 9th Internat. Sympos.
on High Voltage Engineering, Graz 1995, 22-83.

[1.13] T. Nitta, Y. Shibuya et al., "Factors controlling surface flashover in SF6 gas
insulated systems", IEEE-PAS-97, 1978, 959-968.

[1.14] H. A. Stuckless, J. M. Braun, and F.Y. Chu, "Degradation of silica-filled epoxy

spacers by arc contaminated gases in SF6 insulated equipment", IEEE-PAS-104,
1985, 3597-3600.

[1.15] IEEE Standard 1125-1993 "Guide to Moisture Measurement and Control in SF6 Gas
Insulated Equipment".

[1.16] IEC Standard 60376-1971: "Specification and acceptance of new sulphur

hexafluoride", including supplements A and B.

Page 38 of 59
[1.17] IEC Standard 60694, 2.1 edition 2001 - 05 "Common specifications for high-voltage
switchgear and controlgear standards".

[1.18] Draft IEC Standard 60480, Second edition - Fifth version "Guide to the checking
and treatment of SF6 taken from electrical equipment".

[1.19] IEC Standard 61634, First edition 1995 “High-voltage switchgear and controlgear –
Use and handling of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) in high-voltage switchgear and
controlgear”.

[1.20] “Report on the 2nd international survey on high voltage gas insulated substations
(GIS) service experience”, CIGRE brochure N. 150

Page 39 of 59
APPENDIX 1

FUNCTIONAL DETERIORATION BY CONTAMINANTS

A functional deterioration of SF6 equipment by contaminants and the toxic health risk
associated with them can be quantified with the help of the data given in Table 8.
Estimated values are given in brackets. This data will be used to derive the maximum
admissible concentrations of contaminants below which the various functions of the
equipment are not degraded or toxic health risk can be excluded.

1 Toxic Health Risk

Limit concentrations to avoid a toxic health risk can be readily defined on the basis of the
TLV (threshold limit value) concentrations of the toxic decomposition products, which have
been set by governmental health authorities. They define the maximum admissible
concentrations in the air for a regular 8 hours daily exposure in ppmv (parts per million by
volume). These concentrations are listed in the column labelled TLV of Table 8. From
this data the maximum admissible concentrations inside the equipment can be derived
following reasoning proposed in [A1.1]. It is assumed, as a worst case, that the SF6
together with its toxic contaminants is inadvertently released from the enclosure by an
unnoticed leak. The toxic gas is then diluted together with the SF6 in the air. The released
SF6 would trigger the alarm of an SF6 detector when the SF6 concentration in the air would
exceed the TLV of SF6 (1000 ppmv). In order to avoid toxic risk, the concentrations of the
toxic decomposition products accompanying the released and diluted SF6 must not exceed
their TLV levels. With this criterion the maximum admissible concentrations of the toxic
decomposition products inside the equipment (i.e.: before release) can be determined as

cmax [ppmv] = 106 x TLV (toxic decomposition product)/ TLV (SF6) - (A1.1)

These alarm levels are given in the second column of Table 9 as maximum admissible
levels inside equipment from a toxic risk point of view.

2 Corrosion

Corrosive activity is not an inherent property of a gas but depends on the reactivity of this
gas with the materials to which it is exposed. In modern SF6 equipment, materials are
chosen such as to be resistant to corrosion by SF6 decomposition products, even if these
would be present in high concentrations.

The major primary gaseous decomposition products of high reactivity are SF4, WF6, and
SOF4. They readily hydrolyse with moisture H2O via the hydrolytic reactions:-

WF6 + H2O ---> WOxFy + HF (A1.2)

SF4 + H2O ---> SOF2 + 2 HF (A1.3)
SOF2 + H2O ---> SO2 + 2 HF (A1.4)
SOF4 + H2O ---> SO2F2 + 2 HF (A1.5)

These reactions continue until the available moisture H2O in the system has been
consumed. The hydrolytic reaction products SO2 and SO2F2 are stable in the SF6
environment so that the HF remains as the major corrosive compound.
Page 40 of 59
HF (and SF4 and SOF4 to a lower degree) attacks metals and metal oxides transforming
them into fluorides. The metal fluorides form thin coherent layers, which do not affect the
functionality of the equipment. Dramatic destruction processes similar to rusting in air do
not occur with the materials usually employed in the SF6 environment.

The only corrosion problem that has been encountered so far in SF6 insulated systems
was related to polymeric insulators with silica filler. It will be discussed in detail in Section
4 of this Appendix.

3 Gas Insulation Performance

The relevance of contaminants for the gas insulation performance can be judged on the
basis of their critical fields Ecr, i.e. the threshold fields for ionisation avalanche growth.
The relative critical fields are listed in the 3rd column of Table 8 the values being referred
to SF6.

In order to determine how the dielectric strength of SF6 is affected by a contaminant we

use, as a first approximation, a linearly weighted mixing rule for the critical field:

Ecr, mix = (1 - c) Ecr, SF6 + c Ecr, cont (A1.6)

where c is the concentration of the contaminant. This mixing rule was shown to be a good
approximation for mixtures of fluorinated gases and a lower limit (i.e.: worst case) estimate
for mixtures of strongly electronegative gases with non-electronegative gases [A1.1]. If the
contaminant shall not reduce the dielectric strength by more than X [%], i.e. if

(ESF6 - Emix)/ESF6 < 0.01 X (A1.7)

then the maximum admissible contaminant concentration results

cmax = 0.01 . X /(1 - Ecr, cont/Ecr, SF6) if Ecr, cont < Ecr, SF6 (A1.8)

If Ecr, cont / Ecr, SF6 > 1, i.e. if the contaminant is a better insulator than SF6, the
contamination level can be tolerated to take arbitrary values (of course only as far as
insulation would be concerned).

For Ecr, cont > 1, the quantitative value of the maximum tolerable contamination level
depends on the choice of the acceptance level X for which we will take the value

X = 2% (A1.9)

This is a conservative lower limit in that it is much lower than the statistical scatter of about
3 to 5% within which functional performance can be assessed experimentally.

Equations (A1.8) and (A1.9) have been used to determine the maximum tolerable
contaminant levels with respect to gas insulation performance. They are given in the 3rd
column of Table 9.

Page 41 of 59
4 Surface Insulation Performance

The insulation capability of insulators (spacers, support insulators, insulating transmission

elements etc.) can be deteriorated by contaminants if these create a surface conductivity
of sufficient magnitude such as to cause a distortion of the electric field or thermal runaway
heating by the surface leakage current [A1.2]. The three main mechanisms for the
generation of surface conductivity are the condensation of a conducting liquid, the
deposition of a conducting solid, and the creation of a conducting surface layer by
corrosive attack of the insulator material.

4.1 Condensation of a Conducting Liquid

The only example of practical relevance is moisture condensing as liquid water. Moisture
condenses as water when the water vapour pressure pH20 exceeds 611 Pa which
corresponds to a dew point of 0oC. At temperatures below the freezing point moisture
condenses as ice, which does not deteriorate the insulation because it is non-conducting
[1.15]. In order to safely exclude condensation of liquid water, the IEC standard 60694
[1.17] requires that the moisture level in equipment does not exceed 400 Pa
(corresponding to a dew point of – 5oC).

4.2 Formation of Conductive Surface Layers on Insulators by Corrosion

The most important example for this mechanism is the reaction of corrosive SF6
decomposition products, mainly HF, with inorganic filler materials in polymeric insulators.
The effect is most pronounced for silica SiO2 which is attacked, according to [1.15], by the
reaction:

4 HF + SiO2 ---> SiF4 + 2 H2O (A1.11)

The gaseous SiF4 formed may further react with surface adsorbed water or water vapour
to produce hydrated SiO2 and the acid H2SiF6 :

SiF4 + (x + 2) H2O ---> SiO2 x H2O + 2H2SiF6 (A1.12)

These reactions consume SiO2 from the filler grain surfaces thus creating interconnected
internal interfaces between resin and filler. These interfaces are believed to adsorb H2SiF6
and other ionic contaminations from resin and filler that give rise to conductivity along the
corroded interfaces. A similar effect, although substantially weaker, also has been
observed with aluminium oxide-filled epoxy resin [1.15].
The weakly conducting surface of an insulator, when exposed to the electric field induces
surface leakage currents, which may cause field distortion and ohmic heat dissipation.
The latter may eventually lead to thermal runaway flashover. It was shown in [A1.2] that
the critical surface conductivity Ks,cr above which such runaway occurs depends inversely
on the square of the applied electric field E with the approximate relation:

Ks,cr ∝ const/E2 with const 100W/m2 (A1.13)

As the design fields in gas insulated equipment usually do not exceed some 5 kV/mm one
thus obtains a critical surface conductivity of the order:

Ks,cr ∝ 4 .10-12 S (A1.14)

Page 42 of 59
The experiments reported in [A1.2] show that the corrosion induced surface conductivity of
silica-filled epoxy resin increases approximately with the square of the partial pressure p of
the corrosive gas.

s∝ p2- - - (A1.15)

For an SF4 pressure of 10 kPa, surface conductivities of the order of 10-8 S were observed
on silica filled epoxy resin. This finding is in order of magnitude agreement with the data
reported in [1.14]. In the latter reference it was further shown that the surface conductivity
of aluminium oxide filled epoxy results more than 2 orders of magnitude lower than for
silica-filled material. From these data one can extrapolate, with the help of eq. (A1.15) the
critical pressure pcr above which the surface conductivity would exceed the limit of eq.
(A1.14). This yields:

pcr = 200 Pa for silica filled material (A1.16a)

pcr = 2000 Pa for aluminium oxide-filled material (A1.16b)

As highly stressed SF6 equipment always uses aluminium oxide-filled insulator materials
the maximum tolerable contamination level of 2000 Pa has been entered into the 4th
column of Table 9 for the corrosive gases HF, SF4 and SOF4.

4.3 Deposition of a Conducting Solid

Examples are conducting metal oxides or sulphides and carbon. The formation of such
deposits is usually minimised by the choice of appropriate materials from which such
compounds cannot be formed. Also, the presence of the SF6 tends to suppress the
formation of oxides and sulphides in favour of non-conducting fluorides. SF6 also tends to
suppress the formation of carbon from spark or arc eroded polymers, because it binds
carbon as CF4 by the reaction [A1.3]:

C + 2 SF6 ---> CF4 + 2 SF4 A1.17)

If conducting deposits should nevertheless occur for other reasons the only physically
adequate specification of a level of acceptance would be a limit for the resulting surface
conductivity of the contaminated insulator according to eq. (A1.14). This, however, is
irrelevant for the scope of the present document.

5 Switching Performance

The switching performance of a gas is controlled by its dielectric [A1.4] and

thermodynamic [A1.5] properties. With respect to the dielectric interruption performance
the same reasoning can be applied as in Section 3 for the gas insulation performance.

With respect to the so-called thermal interruption performance the thermodynamic

properties of the gas enter in a much more complex way and require for their quantification
sophisticated numerical simulations [A1.4]. Preliminary orientation is provided by
comparative measurements of the thermal interruption capacity, which were carried out for
various gases under short line fault conditions [A1.5]. These allow an approximate ranking
of the thermal interruption performance of several gases relative to SF6. These data are
inserted into Table 8 in the column "Thermal interruption capability" and have been used
Page 43 of 59
to assess values for gases that were not measured. It seems that the switching
performance of complex fluorinated gas molecules is of the same order as for SF6
whereas small or non-fluorinated gas molecules tend to perform much worse. It is
therefore assumed, as a first approximation, that the more complex fluorinated
contaminants (i.e.: CF4, SOF2 etc.) are about equivalent to SF6 and that non-fluorinated
gases (i.e.: air, H2O) and HF are equivalent to air.

If we again apply the linearly weighted mixing rule eq. (A1.7) - (A1.9) and use the data
from the 5th column of Table 8 we obtain the maximum admissible contamination levels
given in 5th column of Table 9 as volume percentage concentrations.

6 Heat Transfer

In gas insulated equipment, the conductors and contacts are heated by ohmic losses. Part
of this heat is transferred to the enclosure by the insulating gas via natural convection.
This heat transfer is controlled, apart from the gas pressure, by the heat transfer
coefficient [A1.6]

α = λ [( ρ/p) / η ] 1/2 A1.18)

where λ is the thermal conductivity, (ρ/p) the pressure reduced density, and η the dynamic
viscosity of the gas.

The values for the various contaminants are listed in column 6 of Table 8. They are in the
range of 60 to 90% of the value for SF6. Again the linear mixing considerations according
to eqs. (A1.7) - (A1.9) can be applied to assess the maximum admissible contaminant
levels which are given in the 6th column of Table 9 labelled "heat transfer", again in
terms of volume percentage concentrations.

Page 44 of 59
Table 8: Functionally Relevant Properties of Gaseous SF6 Contaminants. Values in
brackets are estimates.
Conta- TLV Insulation Boiling Point Thermal Heat Transfer Reactivity in
minant Concentr. [Critical fields at interrupt. SF6 environ-
inside Ecr 1 bar capability [W/m2K] ment
equipment relative to [relative to
[ppmv] SF6] [oC] SF6]
-2
SF6 - 1.00 -64 1 3.7 . 10 -
-2
Air - 0.38 0.2 2 . 10 -
-2
CF4 1000 0.42 -128 0.6 2.4 . 10 -
Moisture - (0.4) +100 (0.2) Hydrolysis
H2 O
SF4 0.1 (1) -40 (1) hydrolysis
Me F*
WF6 0.1 (1) +18.5 (0) Hydrolysis
SOF4 0.5 0.75 -49 (0.5) hydrolysis
Me F*
SO2F2 5 (1) -55 (0.5) -
SOF2 1.6 1.44 -43.7 (0.5) Hydrolysis
a -2
SO2 2 1.02 -10 ( 0) 2.3 . 10 -
a -2
HF 2 <<1 + 19.4 ( 0) 2 . 10 Si F4
Me F1)

1) Me F: fluorination of metals and metal oxides

Table 9: Gaseous contaminants and their maximum levels in equipment up to

which functional deterioration remains insignificant
Conta- Alarm Gaseous Surface Thermal arc Heat Minimum of
minant level insulation insulation interruption transfer columns 2-5
[ppmv]
Air - 3.2% vol - 2.5% vol 4.4% vol 2.5% vol
CF4 - 3.4% vol - 5.0% vol 5.7% vol 3.4% vol
o
H2O - 3.3% vol 611 Pa @ 0 C 2.5% vol 611 Pa @ 0oC
SF4 100 arbitrary 2000 Pa arbitrary 100 pppmv
WF6 100 arbitrary 2% vol 100 ppmv
SOF4 500 arbitrary >2000 Pa 4% vol 500 ppmv
SO2F2 5000 arbitrary arbitrary 4% vol 5000 ppmv
SOF2 1600 arbitrary arbitrary 4% vol 1600 ppmv
SO2 2000 arbitrary arbitrary 2% vol 5.3% vol 2000 ppmv
HF 2000 2% vol >2000 Pa 2% vol 2.2% vol 2000 ppmv

Page 45 of 59
7 References for Appendix 1

[A1.1] K. P. Brand and J. Kopainsky, "Model description of breakdown properties for

unitary electronegative gases and gas mixtures", 3rd Internat. Sympos. on High
voltage Engineering, Milan, 1979.31.05

[A1.2] B Brühl and L Niemeyer, "Monitoring of electrical properties of particulate filled

epoxy resins under corrosive stress", Electrical / Electronic Insul. Conf., Chicago,
1993, 13-16

[A1.3] R. E. Wooton, R. W. Liebermann et. al., "Prediction of electrical breakdown

carbonisation of gases and gas mixtures", 2nd Internat. Sympos. on Gaseous
Dielectrics, Knoxville TE, 1980, 37

[A1.4] W. Hermann and K Ragaller, "Theoretical description of the current interruption

process in HV gas blast breakers, IEE PAS-96, No. 5 (1977), 1546 - 1555.

[A1.5] G. Frind, E. Kinsinger, et al., "Fundamental investigation of arc interruption in gas

flows", EPRI EL-284, 1977

[A1.6] W. M. Rohsenow, "Handbook of Heat Transfer", McGraw Hill 1973

Page 46 of 59
APPENDIX 2

SF6 QUALITY CHECKING EQUIPMENT

1 Moisture

Many different physical quantities and related measurement units are used to give the
moisture contained in a gas. They are: volume concentration expressed in ppmv (parts per
million in volume), mass concentration expressed in ppmw (parts per million in weight),
dew point expressed in oC, relative moisture expressed in % (normally not used) and
absolute moisture expressed in g/cm3. Conversion among these units is provided in the
IEEE Standard 1125-1993 [1.15]. The volume concentration in ppmv, which is used in the
present document, is here suggested as reference unit for future standards on electric
power equipment.

The concentrations are the only figures expressing the moisture content that do not vary
when the gas pressure is changed. Thus when the moisture content is measured in a SF6
insulated equipment, if volume (ppmv) or mass (ppmw) concentrations are used, then the
value remains constant. This is also true in case of the actual pressure of the gas
changes due to modifications of the ambient temperature (for example summer and / or
winter). Hence the moisture content, measured as concentration expressed either in ppmv
or ppmw, needs no reference pressure (i.e.: the pressure at which the measurement was
performed).

The following measurement principles for moisture are presently used:

- Physical dew point meters;

- Electronic dew point meters;
- Chemical reaction tubes with visual indication.

1.1 Physical Dew Point Meters

Chilled mirror type instruments allow the sample gas to be passed onto a reflective part
that is cooled during the measuring process. A light sensitive system is activated by the
reflection from the mirror. Once the dew point temperature has been reached moisture
fogs up the reflective mirror and the light sensitive device picks up the difference in
reflection. As the temperature is recorded when this occurs, the dew point is then known.
These instruments are commercially available; they tend to be more expensive but are
more accurate when compared to other available dew point meters. They are however
vulnerable to particle and/or corrosive gas damage.

Other physical types of dew point meters allow the user to watch a reflective mirror until
fog can be seen to build up whilst the mirror is cooled down. These devices are
commercially available, they typically require an external source for cooling material (i.e.:
dry ice), use more gas than comparable electronic systems and the results are subjective
to the user's skill and knowledge.

1.2 Electronic Dew Point Meters

This category refers to devices that use an electronic sensor to detect the dew point of the
sample gas. Ceramic sensors and aluminium oxide sensors change capacitance with very
Page 47 of 59
small changes in water vapour. Changes in capacitance are converted to indicate the
moisture content of the gas. These capacitance sensor based instruments are the most
widely used types of moisture measurement instruments for SF6. They are available from
a wide range of manufacturers. The following is a list of features that are important in the
selection of a suitable type:

- Response time;
- Gas release;
- Corrosion resistance;
- Life time of sensor;
- Calibration;
- Price.

Another type that would probably belong to this category are the electrolytic type
instruments which measure the moisture content in the gas sample with a phosphorous-
pentoxide film coated between two platinum electrodes in the electrolytic cell. The water
vapour is dissociated into hydrogen and oxygen when direct current is applied, the amount
of current used to dissociate the water being converted to a direct moisture content
reading in ppmv.

Most recent dew point meters display the due point at atmospheric pressure as well as at
the operating pressure in the power equipment.

1.3 Chemical Reaction Tubes with Visual Indication

The refrigeration industry uses a wide range of so called eyeglass - dew point indicators.
They use a chemically reactive material that changes its colour at a certain dew point. The
observer gets a general indication if the "freon" is dry or wet. Past trials of this technology
with SF6 gas have not been very positive as these indicators are pressure sensitive and
readings vary with pressure.

1.4 Summary of desirable features of dew point meters:

- Measuring range 10 ppmv to at least 500 ppmv;

- Accuracy ± 20 ppmv;
- Sensor resistant to oil traces and corrosive gases;
- Permeation resistant connecting pipes using self-sealing valve connections;
- Portable;
- Calibrated or field calibratable;
- SF6 gas release less than 1 bar litre (~ 6 g) per measurement;
- Average time to obtain result less than 5 minutes.

2 Reactive Gases (SF6 Decomposition By-Products)

Reactive gaseous SF6 decomposition products include various gaseous fluorides such as
SF4 and WF6, oxifluorides like SOF2, SOF4, and SO2F2, the oxide SO2, and hydrogen
fluoride HF. All of these gases could principally be detected using gas chromatography or
infrared spectrometers. However, low cost measurement devices are only available for
SO2 and HF. Devices for SO2 are also found to be sensitive to SOF2. The devices for HF
are less sensitive than those for SO2.
Page 48 of 59
Because of the difficulty of measuring all reactive gases, it is recommended that one or
two of them be selected as indicators for the total concentration of all reactive gases. The
gases SO2 and SOF2 are particularly suitable because they make up a major fraction of all
reactive contaminants, which may remain in reclaimed gas after filtering. Their relative
abundance is determined by the stoichiometry of the reactions by which they are created
and is approximately (SO2 + SOF2) / HF = 1:2 to 1:4, i.e. 1:3 on average. Therefore, if the
sum concentration of SO2 + SOF2 is measured, the total concentration, including HF is
about 3 to 4 times higher, e.g. a reading of say 12 ppmv would indicate a total
concentration of SO2, SOF2 and HF of about 50 ppmv, this corresponds to the
recommended level given in Table 1 for reclaimed SF6 to be reused. In order to account
for this indicator function of SO2 + SOF2 an equivalent level has been included in the purity
requirements (Footnote 1 in Table 1).

The present technology to detect SO2 by a portable field instrument is to use so called
detector tubes, which change their initial colour if SF6 containing SO2 or SOF2 is fed
through them. The device samples a small amount of SF6 from the equipment (0.5 litres at
2 bar). This sample gas is then released through the test tube, thus a quantitative
measurement is possible. Typical measuring range is 0 ÷ 20 ppmv.

Electronic and electro-chemical SO2 sensors have been developed but have not yet been
tested in SF6 insulated power technology.

Desirable features are:

- Measuring range up to 20 ppmv;

- Calibration for SO2 and SOF2;
- Accuracy ± 10%;
- Decomposition product resistant connecting pipes using self sealing valve connections;
- Portable;
- SF6 gas release less than 1 bar litre (~ 6 g) per measurement.

3 Non Reactive Gases (Air and CF4)

These include mostly air (introduced by handling) and CF4 (produced by arc erosion of
polymers). Devices that compare the speed of sound or the thermal conductivity of the
SF6 gas mixture with pure SF6 can measure the concentrations of these gases. Speed of
sound based systems are fast (response time less than 1 min), accurate to ± 1% and do
not need recalibration and use only minimal amount of gas. Their readout is the SF6
concentration in % volume. They are mostly calibrated for mixtures of SF6 and Nitrogen
and/or air, but can also be calibrated for SF6 / CF4 mixtures. Devices measuring the
concentration of the non-reactive gases (such as Oxygen sensors) and then calculate the
% of SF should not be used, as different non-reactive gases such as Nitrogen (N2) or CF4
may be present.

Desirable features are:

- Accuracy better ± 1% vol;

- Response time < 1 min;
- No recalibration required;
- Separate calibration for air and CF4 mixtures with SF6;
- Portable;
- SF6 gas release less than 0.5 bar litre (~ 3 g) per measurement.
Page 49 of 59
APPENDIX 3

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR SF6 RECYCLING EQUIPMENT

As a general philosophy the better the design and quality of the various components of an
SF6 reclaimer, the lower the probability of introducing undesired contaminants into the SF6
gas. An investment in good quality equipment may thus be justified by the elimination of
high cost special procedures, which may otherwise be required when recycling SF6, refer
to Figure 2 and Section 5.3.

1 Pre Filter for Heavily Arced SF6 Gas

Additional pre filters, as described in Section 5.3, are typically used between the SF6 gas
processing unit and the SF6 insulated equipment in an attempt to keep contaminants of
heavily arced gas from harming the processing equipment and from contaminating
reclaimed SF6 already stored in the gas cart's storage vessel.

The characteristics of pre filter units should be in accordance with Table 3 and should not
contain ingredients that form stable gases rather than absorbing SF6 by-products. They
should have self-sealing pressure and vacuum tight connections on both input and output
points and should facilitate easy exchange of filter material (i.e.: cartridges), preferably
without the need to remove any connections, thus reducing the possibility of leakage.
They should be portable for ease of use.

Facilities must be available to allow the removal of air from the associated section of gas
cart after exchange of filter material by means of its internal air evacuation system
(vacuum pump).

Soda Lime NaCO3 (soda ash) should not be used as a pre-filter material as it produces
CO2, which is a stable gas that cannot be removed from the SF6. Similarly, a molecular
sieve with pore size larger than 4 Angstrom should not be used as thermodynamic
reactions can occur under certain instances, causing a burnout or melt down of the filter
interiors.

2 Particle Filter

The particle filter should be placed at the input of a gas reclaimer. It should be capable of
holding back particles larger than 1 micron in size, thus preventing particles from entering
mechanical parts of the gas reclaimer and/or being discharged into the air via the vacuum
pump. It should facilitate easy exchange of filter material (i.e.: cartridges), preferably
without the need to remove any connections thus reducing the possibility of leakage.

Facilities must be available to allow the removal of air from the associated section of the
gas cart after exchange of filter material by means of its internal air evacuation system
(vacuum pump).

3 Vacuum Pump

The vacuum pump module is used to extract air from SF6 insulated equipment and
associated piping prior to refilling with SF6 and for dehydration (removal of residual
Page 50 of 59
moisture). It is also used to remove air from various sections of the gas processing
system itself, e.g. after maintenance work and after filter exchange. The vacuum pump
section must be designed so that accidental back-flows of air and oil are prevented. As
vacuum pumps are generally oil-lubricated, they should not be used for SF6 processing.

4 SF6 Vacuum Compressor

The SF6 vacuum compressor module is used to recover SF6 from gas insulated equipment
and to assist the in series connected SF6 piston compressor to achieve a good level of SF6
recovery. Its function is to produce a vacuum as low as possible within the electrical
equipment and to feed the SF6 gas to the main compressor.

Note: A piston compressor alone can only achieve a certain pressure differential that
would limit the residual recovery pressure dependent upon the gas pressure in the storage
compartment. The use of both compressor systems in series will assure that the desired
recovery pressure can be achieved.

The vacuum compressor should be dry running and hermetically sealed to prevent
accidental oil or air contamination. It should also have a pneumatic control system that
ensures its operation in accordance with the prevailing pressure conditions.

Some systems combine the SF6 vacuum compressor module with the vacuum pump. In
this case the combination must perform according to requirements for both devices and an
automatic shutdown feature must be incorporated to prevent SF6 from being discharged
into the air as a result of operator error.

Dry running vacuum pumps have recently become available for SF6 recovery. As they
produce a higher vacuum degree compared to the vacuum compressors, the costs
substantially increase. On the other hand, a higher recovery rate can be achieved (up to
50 times).

Note: Most vacuum pumps are oil lubricated and produce some oil mist at their exhaust.
If used for SF6 processing the elimination of the oil mist must be assured. Vacuum pumps
also are generally not airtight when a vacuum exists at their discharge side. This is
however often the case where vacuum compressor and vacuum pump are combined. The
use of a vacuum pump in the SF6 circuit of a gas processing system must ensure the air
tightness between vacuum and compression section.

5 SF6 Piston Compressor

This module is used to compress the SF6 into a storage container. It commonly comprises
a single or dual stage piston compressor. It should be dry running and hermetically sealed
to prevent accidental oil or air contamination. Its pressure differential must be sufficient to
achieve the maximum storage pressure required to adequately fill the storage container.

6 Gas/Moisture Filters

Filter elements should be adequately sized to remove moisture, gas by-products and
particles larger than 1 micron in size (as a second means of trapping and larger particles,
which may have been transmitted via a non-efficient particle filter). The filter should be a
Page 51 of 59
cartridge type and changed easily. The desiccant and decomposition filters should be
placed between compressor output and storage section. Absorbent filters have better
efficiency under higher pressures and elevated temperature.

Facilities must be provided to allow the removal of air from the associated section of gas
cart after exchange of filter material by means of its internal air evacuation system
(vacuum pump).

7 SF6 Storage

The SF6 storage module is used to store SF6 processed by the reclaimer (see Section
6.1). It must have enough capacity to store the amount of SF6 to be recovered. It can be
an integral part of the gas reclaimer or it can be an external item. If used for liquid storage
of SF6 it must be rated for at least 50 bar. A net content weighing system should be
available in order to determine the degree of filling of the container. If the reclaimer is
intended to be transportable when containing gas within its storage containers it must
comply with the local pressure vessel regulations (see Section 6.4).

8 SF6 Re-filling

The SF6 gas reclaimer must have provisions to allow refilling of the gas, from the storage
vessel, into the electrical equipment. The refilling provisions will vary depending on the
storage method. Means must be incorporated to ensure that the electrical equipment is
not subjected to overpressure. The SF6 compressor is generally used to transfer the gas
from the storage vessel to the electrical equipment.

When the gas is stored in gaseous form it can be refilled by using a regulator and the
compressor only.

When the gas is stored in liquid form it is necessary to control the temperature of the
refilled SF6 to ensure that freezing cannot occur in the system and that SF6 is filled into the
equipment in vaporised form only.

9 Design Example

The following Figure 6 shows the gas flow scheme of a general purpose SF6 reclaimer
designed for processing "normally arced gas".

Page 52 of 59
Figure 6: Typical flow diagram for a general purpose gas reclaimer

VACUUM PUMP

DRY TYPE
FILTER
VACUUM
METER

PISTON
COMPRESSOR VACUUM
STORAGE
COMPRESSOR
CONNECTION (DRY COMPRESSORS PARTICLE FILTER
ONLY)

SAFETY PRESSURE
VALVE REDUCER

NON RETURN VALVE COUPLING

IN/OUTPUT IN/OUTPUT SOLENOID VALVE

PRESSURE SWITCH

Alternative Storage

Each of the various components shown here, has specific design considerations in
regards to their ability to keep the SF6 in a re-usable state, at acceptable cost, and to
prevent accidental gas losses during handling.

Gas/hose connections should be self-sealing to prevent air and moisture from entering the
gas reclaiming equipment. As the equipment will often be left in a state of vacuum and/or
high pressure, these SF6 valves need to be pressure and vacuum tight.

Gas piping and pipe unions used must be of high quality and preferably use a metal to
metal re-usable sealing system, proven in its performance with SF6 and its decomposition
by-products. The following characteristics are essential:

- Pressure and vacuum tight;

- Vibration proof;
- Re-usable (indefinite refitting possible);
- Temperature change resistant.

All pipe-work should be of copper tubing silver soldered to tube unions. All components
(gauges, valves, filters, etc.) should be securely mounted to the frame of the gas cart, such
that pipe-work does not have to support them. This prevents stress cracks causing either
gas losses or inadvertent gas mixtures. Heavy components (i.e.: compressors and
vacuum pumps) should be "shock-proof" mounted and be connected to the fixed pipe-work
via flexible connections.

Equipment used to process SF6 (i.e.: compressors) should be dry running (oil less), of gas
tight construction and should not contain any internal components that can corrode by
being exposed to decomposition products (i.e.: galvanised metal).

Solenoid type valves that close automatically in case of a loss of power should be used to
control the gas flow.

Vacuum pumps used to extract air and moisture from electrical power equipment or gas
reclaiming equipment, should have an oil back flow prevention valve.
Page 53 of 59
Storage tanks should not be internally coated.
SF6 compressors must be pressure and temperature protected, and be able to shut
solenoid valves in case of overload or failure.

Filter elements should be as described earlier in Section 5.3.

10 Safety Features

Operator safety features should be incorporated into gas reclaimers, in particular, systems
to prevent operator errors. The following features will assist in achieving safe operation:

- Pressure relief valves at all critical sections;

- Automatic control of gas temperature;
- Check valves at critical points throughout the gas reclaimer;
- Appropriate wiring, screening of live components and grounding of all electrical
equipment.

11 Ability to maintain original gas quality.

Important design features to ensure the conservation of gas quality are:

- Vacuum pump oil back flow prevention;

- Dry-running (oil-less) SF6 processing components;
- Use of high reliability tubing and fittings;
- Gas tight compressor designs;
- Self sealing pressure/vacuum connections with minimum flow restriction;
- Vibration proof mounting of components.

12 Transportability

Transportability is an essential value for many applications. For small gas volumes
assemblies that may be transported in a car, or small van, and set up on site may suffice.
For large gas volumes a trailer mounted self contained assembly is required. Special
considerations should be given to ensure that the storage vessel used could legally be
transported when filled with SF6

Page 54 of 59
APPENDIX 4

MOISTURE

1 General

The issue of moisture in GIS has led to substantial confusion in the past, which seems to
be partly due to the numerous measurement units in use and partly to the unfamiliar
features of the subject. This appendix therefore summarises the measurement units and
their conversion, dew point measurement practice and the mechanisms responsible for the
establishment of a basic moisture level in gas insulated electric power equipment.

2 Moisture measurement units

The primary physical quantity characterising the moisture level in a volume is the partial
water vapour pressure pH2O, [Pa]. It is a linear measure of the moisture level and is
independent of the pressure of the background gas and of its composition.

Condensation of water vapour as liquid (droplets = dew) or solid (ice) occurs when the
water vapour pressure pH2O exceeds a critical level pH2Osat, the saturation vapour pressure.
It is important to note that the condensation only depends on pH2O and the gas
temperature whereas the pressure and composition of the background gas in which
the moisture is contained as impurity, plays no role.

The dependence of the saturation vapour pressure on temperature pH2Osat(T) is tabulated

in IEC 60376. This relation defines another measure for moisture, which is equivalent to
the water vapour pressure, namely, the dew point Td. It is defined as the temperature
below which a given water vapour pressure pH2O causes condensation. Note that, different
from the partial water vapour pressure, the dew point Td is a non-linear measure for
moisture, which has only been introduced because the observation of condensation is
presently the mechanism underlying most moisture measurement devices (dew point
meters).

The conversion of partial water vapour pressure pH2O to dew point Td can be carried
out using the water vapour pressure curve pH2Osat(T) tabulated in IEC 60376.

A further measure for moisture is the volume concentration cH2O [ppmv] of the water
vapour with respect to the background gas (at pressure p). It is usually expressed in
ppmv (= parts per million by volume) and is defined as the ratio

cH2O [ppmv] = pH2O/p x 106

This measure has been recommended as preferential unit for moisture because of its
practical advantages as discussed in Section 4.3.1.

A further moisture measurement unit in use is the mass concentration cmH2O [ppmw],
which is defined by:

cmH2O [ppmw] = ρH2O/ρ x 106

Page 55 of 59
where ρH2O and ρ are the mass density of the water vapour and the background gas,
respectively. Note that the density ρ of the background gas depends on its composition so
that mass related concentrations results differ for different SF6 mixtures when the same
absolute moisture level is present. This makes this unit difficult to handle for SF6 mixtures.

The conversion rules between volume and mass concentration are:

cH2O [ppmv] = cH2O [ppmw] / (Mcont/M0)

cH2O [ppmw] = cH2O [ppmv] (Mcont/M0)

where MH2O and M0 are the molecular masses of water and of the background gas,
respectively.

Specifically for pure SF6 one has, with MSF6 = 146 x 10-3 kg/mol, MH2O = 18 x 10-3 kg/mol

cH2O [ppmv] = 8.1 cH2O [ppmw]

cH2O [ppmw] = 0.12 cH2O [ppmv]

3 Moisture measurement practice

As already explained in Appendix 2, Section 1, the most common way to measure the
moisture content of SF6 if the measurement of the dew point. The dew point is the
temperature at which the water vapour, which is in the gas mixture, starts to condense.
At this critical temperature, the partial pressure of water vapour is equivalent to the
saturation vapour pressure. The relationship between the partial pressure of water at the
temperature of the dew point can be found in table given by Annex A of IEC 60376 [1.16].

3.1 Influence of the pressure and temperature

In fact, the dew point of a gas depends on the pressure and on the temperature.
Sometimes confusions are done between the Dew Point of a gas inside a container or
equipment and the dew point measured.

As it can be seen in Figure 7, the dew point of a gas inside a container or equipment Td is
the temperature at which the water vapour starts to condense in a gas at the compartment
pressure p. From this dew point value, the moisture content cH2O can be deducted (see
next Section 3.2).
The dew point measured Tdm is the temperature at which the water vapour starts to
condense in a gas at a lower pressure than the nominal pressure pm. When the
measuring device is working at atmospheric pressure pa, then the measuring pressure pm
is equal to pa. From this dew point value, the moisture content cH2Om can be deducted
(see next Section 3.2). cH2Om is equal to cH2O.

On the other hand, the moisture inside the compartment varies depending on the
temperature of the gas inside the compartment T, as a consequence of sorption and
desorption processes. This temperature is normally different from the ambient
temperature Ta, due to the current flowing in the conductors and sometimes the sun
heating on the electrical equipment. When the temperature rises, the moisture desorbs
from the aluminium and polymeric walls of the electrical equipment, so that both the
moisture content and the dew point of the gas increase.

Page 56 of 59
Due to these different aspects, when the dew point Tdm of a gas is measured, some other
information must be documented. They are:

- T: the temperature of the gas in the compartment;

- pm : the pressure at which the dew point is measured

Figure 7: Measurement of the moisture content in a GIS compartment

Bulding GAS
pa, Ta

Moisture
measuring
GIS compartment device
cH2O, Td, p, T cH2Om, Tdm,
pm, Tm

- pa is the ambient pressure and Ta is the ambient temperature;

- cH2O is the moisture content of the gas, Td is the dew point, p is the gas pressure, T is
the gas temperature in the GIS compartment;
- cH2Om is the moisture content of the gas, Tdm is the dew point, pm is the gas pressure,
Tm is the gas temperature in the measuring device.

3.2 Relation between the humidity contain and the dew point measurement

cH2O [ppmv] = pH2O / pm x 106

- pH2O is the saturation vapour pressure at the dew point temperature (see Annex A of
IEC 60376 [1.16]);
- pm is the gas pressure in the measuring device;
- cH2O [ppmv] is the volume concentration expressed in parts per million by volume.

4 Basic Moisture Level in Equipment

The moisture level in gas-insulated equipment is controlled by a number of different

moisture sources, which include

(1) Moisture diffusing into the gas containment from the outside atmosphere through
leaks and sealings;
(2) Moisture introduced by the moisture contained in the gas filled into the equipment;
(3) Moisture desorbed from inner metallic surfaces of the gas containment;

Page 57 of 59
 (4) Moisture desorbed from inner polymeric surfaces of the gas containment;
(5) Moisture desorbed from adsorbers placed the gas containment for moisture control
and sorption of gaseous decomposition products.

As pointed out in [1.15] moisture diffusion from outside (1) is usually negligible for intact
equipment. In order to assess the role of the remaining moisture sources it is instructive to
carry out some order-of-magnitude estimates of the moisture inventory contained in a
typical gas insulation compartment as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: Moisture balance in a gas insulation compartment in gas insulated power

equipment

<1 g H2O
introduced
with gas

100..300 Pa
~20 g H2 O >2 g H2O on
in the spacer metal surface

10..20 g H2 O
in adsorbers

If gas contaminated with a partial water vapour pressure pH2O = 150 Pa (corresponding to
a dew point of –15 oC) is filled into the enclosure, the moisture imported with it mH2O is:

mH2O = ρH2OV = pH2O MH2O /(RT)

With MH2O = 18 x 10-3 kg/mol, R = 8.3 J/K mol and T = 300 K one obtains for a typical
volume of V = 0.5 m3:

~ 0.5 g water imported into the enclosure when filling it with gas containing
150 Pa moisture

When the metallic surface consists of aluminium it is covered by an aluminium oxide layer,
which, on a microscopic scale, has a spongy structure with an effective surface some n ~
500 times higher than the geometric surface. It is known that such an oxide layer can
accommodate about N ~ 20 molecular layers of water molecules. The moisture adsorbed
at the aluminium surface per area thus is of the order

mmet = n N mH2O / AH2O

where mH2O = 3 x 10-26 kg is the mass of a water molecule and AH2O = 10-19 m2 its area.
Thus, mmet ~ 3 x 10-3 kg/m2 corresponds, in our example, to about
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 3 g water stored at the metallic surface.

The polymeric surface in contact with the gas volume usually has a moisture content of the
order of cH2Ow ~1 % wt. As the diffusion of moisture is a slow process only a limited depth
of a few mm under the polymer surface is accessible for diffusing moisture. With a typical
diffusion depth of d ~3 mm (corresponding to a diffusion time of several months) the water
inventory of the polymer surface per area results mpoly ~d ρpoly cH2Ow so that with ρpoly ~
1000 kg/m3 and a surface of ~1 m2 one has

~ 30 g water stored in the polymer surface.

The sorption performance of adsorbers are characterised by the sorption isotherm, a curve
which relates the degree of adsorber charging to the residual water vapour pressure left in
the gas. Typical molecular sieve type adsorbers leave very low residual water vapour
pressures when they are completely uncharged but leave considerable residual water
vapour pressures when they are partially charged. They typically have residual pressures
of the order of 100 Pa when charged to 50 % of their capacity at an operating temperature
of only 40 oC. Under these conditions, they contain about 0.1 kg moisture per kg adsorber
material. The moisture inventory of a “half-filled” adsorber of typically 300 g would thus be
about be 0.3 x 0.1 = 0.03 kg, i.e. there would be

~ 30 g water stored in the “half-filled” adsorber.

The comparison of the above order-of-magnitude estimates shows that the moisture
inventory essentially resides in the spacer and in the adsorber whereas moisture imported
with filling-in gas is negligible. As a result, the basic moisture level in the equipment is
not determined by the moisture imported with the gas but mainly by the sorption
equilibrium between polymer surface and adsorber. It thus depends, in a complex way, on
such parameters as adsorber design, polymer surface treatment, temperature etc..
The order-of-magnitude of the basic moisture level can be inferred from sample moisture
measurements in gas insulating equipment in service as reported in [1.15]. These
measurements yield water vapour pressures in the range of typically 100 to 300 Pa. As a
consequence of that:

The choice of a maximum tolerable moisture level of 150 Pa (corresponding to a

dew point of –15 oC) constitutes a safe criterion for the reuse of reclaimed gas.

Putting extremely high requirements on the “dryness” of the gas is a functionally

unnecessary over-specification, which only causes cost without reducing the
moisture level in equipment. It is not possible to dry out an enclosure by filling in
extremely dry gas.

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