Sulfur Hexafluoride Gas (SF6) Properties

Sulfur Hexafluoride Gas (SF6) Properties

  • Heavy, chemically inert, non toxic
  • No poisonous effect on the human body but decomposition products are poisonous
  • Color less and odor less
  • It is gaseous at normal room temperature and pressure
  • Density is about 6.6g/l at 20oC (5 times denser than air)
  • Critical temperature is at 45.6oC and can be liquefied by compression
  • Very good insulant with high dielectric strength
  • SF6 gas is electo-negitive ( tends to attract the free electrons and has the arc quenching property). Because of this main reason SF6 gas is used for arc quenching and insulation medium in circuit breakers.
  • The gas is highly stable
  • Unlike solid insulation materials, electrical breakdown of sf6 gas does not result in permanent deterioration of its properties.
  • Decomposition occurs on the exposure to the electric arc. (Disassociation products will be SF2 and SF4 lower order fluorides)

You May Also Like :

Ferroresonance in Power Transformers

Ferroresonance in Power Transformers

Ferroresonance:  Ferroresonance phenomenon can be triggered off through interaction of the system capacitance with a non-linear inductance, when transformer is at no-load. This oscillatory phenomenon ...