Lord Consulting

Testing And Leak Imaging/Quantification Technology

Whilst the power industry internationally is heavily dependent on the use of SF6 gas for its unsurpassed insulation and arcquenching properties, the stewardship of the SF6 gas in the GIE equipment itself is in need of an urgent review.
There are two drivers for this. The fi rst is that the Industry is now facing aging GIE equipment and is also now more aware of the signifi cant roll that moisture in the gas can play in reducing GIE equipment life and reliability. Improved, formalised, and more regular SF6 testing regimes are now called for to ensure optimum outcomes from this equipment.
The second reason is that, with SF6 being one of the leading greenhouse gases, the Industry as been effectively put on notice by powerful environmental regulators to self regulate its environmental stewardship of SF6 by implementing guidelines being completed presently by the Cigre organisation for the handling of SF6. With Australasia now Kyoto Protocol signatories, this matter will be a prominent issue in 2008, a far cry from the attitudes of earlier years to SF6 gas handling.
This paper reviews the issues and properties of SF6, the environmental drivers and guidelines in place, and the technologies on hand to manage and implement an enhanced SF6 stewardship to a new level of overall best practice.

Sf6 Gas Management To Best Practice (1MB pdf)