Breakdown in Gases

1 Gases as insulating Media

The .simplest and the most commonly found dielectrics are gases.
Most of the electrical apparatus use air as the Insulating medium,
and in a few cases other gases such nitrogen (N2), carbon dioxide
(CO2), freon (CC12F2) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) are also used.
Various phenomena occur in gaseous dielectrics when a voltage
is applied. When the applied voltage is low, small currents flow
between the electrodes and they insulation retains, it's electrical
properties. On the other hand, if the applied voltages are large, the
current flowing through the insulation increases very sharply an
electrical breakdown occurs. A strongly conducting spark formed
during breakdown practically produces a short circuit between the
electrodes.
The maximum voltage applied to the insulation at the moment of
breakdown is called the breakdown voltage
In .order to understand the breakdown phenomenon in gases, a
study of the electrical properties of gases and the processes by
which high current are produced in gases is essential.
The electrical discharges in gases are of two types:(i) Non-sustaining discharge.
(ii) self- sustaining.
The breakdown in a gas, called spark is the transition of nonsustaining discharge into a self-sustaining discharge. The build-up of
high currents in a breakdown is due to the process known as
ionization in which electrons and ions are created from neutral
atoms or molecules' and their migration to the anode and cathode
respectively leads to high current. At present two types of theories,
viz.
(i) Townsend theory
(ii) Streamer theory are known
'Which explain the mechanism of breakdown under different
condition?
The various physical condition of gases namely' pressure,
temperature, electrode field configuration nature of electrode
surfaces
and the availability of initial conducting particles are known to
govern the ionization processes.

COLLISION PROCESSES
1. Types of Collision
An electrical discharge is normally created from unionized gas by collision
processes. These processes are mainly gas processes which occur due to
the collision between the charged particles and gas atoms or molecules.
These are of the following two types.
Elastic collisions: Elastic collisions are collisions which when occur, no
change takes place in the internal energy of the particles but only their
kinetic energy gets redistributed. These collisions do not occur in practice.
When electrons collide with gas molecules,
a single electron traces' a zig-zag path during its travel. But in between the
collisions it is accelerated by the electric field. Since electrons are very light
in weight, they transfer only a part of their kinetic energy to the much heavier
ions or gas molecules with which they collide. These results in very little loss
of energy by the electrons and therefore electrons gain very high energies
and travel at a much higher speed than the ions. Therefore in all electrical
discharges electrons play a leading role.
Inelastic collisions: Inelastic collisions, on the other hand, are those in which
internal changes in energy take place within an atom or a molecule at the
expense of the total kinetic energy of the colliding particle. The collision often
results in a change in the structure of the atom. Thus all collisions that occur
in practice are inelastic collisions. For example ionization, attachment,
excitation, recombination are inelastic collisions.

2. Mobility of Ions and Electrons

When an ion moves through a gas under the influence of a static uniform
electric field, it gains energy from the field between collisions and loses
energy during collisions. Electric force on an electron/ion of
charge e is eE, with the resulting acceleration being eE/m. When the energy
gained by the ions from the electric field is small compared with the thermal
energy, the drift velocity in the field direction Wi is proportional to the
electrical field intensity E and may be expressed as follows:

Wi = i * E

(1)

Where i is called the mobility of ions the mobility is mainly a characteristic of

the gas through which the ion moves. At normal temperatures and pressures
the mobility is of the order of several cm2/volt-sec.
However, the concept of ionic mobility cannot be directly applied to electrons
because of their extremely low mass. Any externally applied electric field will
cause the electrons to gain energies much higher than their mean thermal
energy. So the electron drift velocity, which has been defined as the average
velocity, with which the centre of mass of the electron swarm moves in the
direction of the field, is not a simple function of E/p, but is determined from
the energy distribution function. From the kinetic theory the electron drift
velocity We is given in microscopic terms as follows:

We = Ee / 3ma2 d/dc (l c2)

(2)

Where l is an equivalent mean free path of an electron with speed c

3. Diffusion Coefficient
When particles possessing energy, which is exhibited as a random motion,
are distributed unevenly throughout a space, then they tend to redistribute
themselves uniformly throughout the space. This process is known as
diffusion and the, rate at which this occurrence is governed by the diffusion
passing through unit area in unit time perpendicular to the concentration
gradient and for unit concentration gradient. In three dimensions this may be
written as

Where n is the concentration of particles.

Kinetic theory gives D in microscopic terms as follows

D = 1/3 (lc)
Where l is the mean free path and

c the random velocity, the average being

taken over c
In electrical discharges, whenever there is a non-uniform concentration of
charges there will be migration of these charges from regions of higher

concentration to regions of lower concentration. This process is called

diffusion and this causes a de-ionising effect in the regions of lower
concentration. The presence of walls confining a given volume increases the
de-ionisation effect since charged particles lose their charge on hitting the
wall. Both diffusion and mobility result in mass motion described by a drift
velocity caused either by unbalanced collision forces (concentration gradient)
or by the electric field itself.

4. Electron Energy Distributions

For the development of a complete theory giving the relationship between the
data concerning single collisions of electrons with gas molecules, and the
experimentally obtained average properties of discharges, a knowledge of
the electron energy distribution functions is essential. The most widely used
distribution functions are the Maxwellian and Druyesteynian distributions
which apply specifically to elastic conditions.
The Maxwellian distribution has been found to apply where there is
thermal equilibrium between the electrons and molecules.
The distribution takes the form

Where Cl is the constant and is the mean energy.

Druyesteynian distribution applies when the electron or ion energy is much
greater than the thermal energy and is therefore expected to be more of
application in transcends discharges. This distribution takes the form

Where C2 is another constant

5. Collision Cross Section
Collision cross section is defined as the area of contact between two
particles during a collision. In other words, the total area of impaCT'sThis
area of contact is different for each type of collision. For example, the area of
impact is more for ionisation while for an excitation it is less. For
simultaneously, occurring processes such as ionization, excitation, charge

transfer, chemical reactions, etc., the effective cross section is obtained by

simple a addition of all the cross sections. If q, is the total cross section, and
if qi, qe, qc ... etc., are the cross sections for ionization, excitation, charge
transfer, etc, respectively, then

qt= qi +qe + qc + .
Thus the use of collision cross sections instead of mean free paths has often
proved to be advantageous. The collision cross section is also expressed in
terms of the probability of a collision to take place, i.e.,

P = nq

(7)

which is the reciprocal of the mean free path.

6 The Mean Free Path ()

The mean free path is defined as the average distance between collisions.
When a discharge occurs large number of collisions occurs between the
electrons and the gas molecules. Depending on the initial energy of the
colliding electron, the distance between the two collisions vary The average
of this is the mean free path. The free path is a random quantity and its mean
value depends upon the concentration of particles or the density of the gas.
The mean free path can be expressed as

=k / p

(8)

Where k is a constant and p is the gas pressure in microns.

The value of k for nitrogen is 5. From this equation it is seen that at a
pressure of 1 torr, is 5 x 10-3 cm. If the pressure is 10-6 ton,
then = 5 x10+3 cm. From this it is seen that mean free path is very large at
very low pressures and is very small at high pressures.

IONIZATION PROCESSES
A gas in its normal state is almost a perfect insulator. However, when a high
voltage is applied between the two electrodes immersed in a gaseous
medium, the gas becomes a conductor and an electrical breakdown occurs.

The processes that are primarily responsible for the breakdown of a gas are
ionization by collision, photo-ionization, and the secondary ionization
processes. In insulating gases (also called electron-attaching gases) the
process of attachment also plays an important role.

1. Ionization by Collision
The process of liberating an electron from a gas molecule with the
simultaneous production of a positive ion is called ionization. In the process
of ionization by collision, a free electron collides with a neutral gas molecule
and gives rise to a new electron and a positive ion. If we consider a low
pressure gas column in which an electric field E is applied across two plane
parallel electrodes, as shown in Fig. 1 then, any electron starting at the
cathode will be accelerated more and more between collisions with other gas
molecules during its travel towards the anode.
If he energy () gained during this travel between collisions exceeds the
ionization potential, Vi, which is the energy required to dislodge an electron
from its atomic shell, then ionization takes place. This process can be
represented as

Where, A is the atom, A + is the positive ion and a is the electron.

Fig 1 Arrangment for study of a townsend discharge

A few of the electrons produced at the cathode by some external means, say
by ultra-violet light falling on the cathode, ionize neutral gas particles
producing positive ions and additional electrons. The additional electrons,
then, themselves make `ionizing collisions' and thus the process repeats
itself. This represents an increase in the electron current, since the number
of electrons reaching the anode
per unit time is greater than those liberated at the cathode. In addition, the
positive ions also reach the cathode and on bombardment on the cathode
give rise to secondary electrons.

2. Secondary Ionization Processes

Secondary ionization processes by which secondary electrons are produced
are the one which sustain a discharge after it is established due to ionization
by collision and photo-ionization.
They are briefly described below.
(i) Electron Emission due, to Positive Ion Impact
Positive ions are formed due to ionization by collision or by photo-ionization,
and being positively charged, they travel towards the cathode.
A positive ion approaching a metallic cathode can cause emission of
electrons from the cathode by giving up its kinetic energy on impaCT's If the
total energy of the positive ion, namely, the sum of its kinetic energy and the
ionization energy, is greater than twice the work function of the metal, then
one electron will be ejected and a second electron will neutralize the ion. The
probability of this process is measured as , which is called the Townsend's
secondary ionization coefficient due to positive ions and is defined as the net
yield of electrons per incident positive ion. , increases with ion velocity and
depends on the kind of gas and electrode material used.
(ii)

Electron Emission due to Photons

To cause an electron to escape from a metal, it should be given enough

energy to overcome the surface potential barrier. The energy can also be
supplied in the form of a photon of ultraviolet light of suitable frequency.
Electron emission from a metal surface occurs at the critical condition

where cp is the work function of the metallic electrode. The frequency (v) is
given by the relationship

(10)

Is known as the threshold frequency For a clean nickel surface

With = 4.5 eV, the threshold frequency will be that corresponding to a
wavelength = 2755 A. If the incident radiation has a greater frequency
than the threshold frequency ', then the excess energy goes partly as the
kinetic energy of the emitted electron and partly to heat the surface of the
electrode. Since is typically a few electrons volts, the threshold frequency
lies in the far ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum.
(iii)

Electron Emission due to Metastable and Neutral Atoms

A metastable atom or molecule is an excited particle whose lifetime is very

large (10-3 s) compared to the lifetime of an ordinary particle (10 -8 s).
Electrons can be ejected from the metal surface by the impact of excited
(metastable) atoms, provided that their total energy is sufficient to overcome
the work function. This process is most easily observed with metastable
atoms, because the lifetime of other excited states is too short for them to
reach the cathode and cause electron emission, unless they originate very
near to the cathode surface. Therefore, the yields can also be large nearly
100%, for the interactions of excited He atom with a clean surface of
molybdenum, nickel or magnesium. Neutral atoms in the ground state also
give rise to secondary electron emission if their kinetic energy is high
(= 1000 eV). At low energies the yield is considerably less .

Electron Attachment Process

The types of collisions in which electrons may become attached to atoms or

molecules to form negative ions are called attachment collision. Electron
attachment process depends on the energy of the electron arid -the nature of
the gas and is a very important process from the engineering point of view.
All electrically insulating gases, such as O 2, CO2, C12, F2, .C2F6, C3F8,
C4F10, CC12F2, and SF6 exhibit this property. An electron attachment process
can be represented as:

Atom + e- negative atomic ion + (Ea + K)

11

The energy liberated as a result of this process is the kinetic energy K plus
the electron affinity Ea. In the attaching or insulating gases, the atoms or
molecules have vacancies in their outermost shells and, therefore, have an
affinity for electrons. The attachment process plays a very important role in

the removal of free electrons from an ionized gas when arc interruption
occurs in gas-insulated Switchgear.

TOWNSEND'S CURRENT GROWTH EQUATION

Referring to Fig. 1 let us assume that no electrons are emitted from the
cathode. When one electron collides with a neutral particle, a positive ion
and an electron are formed. This is called an ionizing collision. Let be the
average number of ionizing collisions made by an electron per centimeter
travel in the direction of the field ( depends on gas pressure p and E/p, and
is called the Townsend's first ionization coefficient). At any distance x from
the cathode, let the number of electrons be nx. When these nx electrons
travel a further distance of dx they give

X=0 nx=n0
d nx/dx = nx ; nx=n0 e x
Then, The number of electrons reaching the anode (x=d)

nd=no e(.d)
The number of new electrons created, on the average, by each electron is

e(.d) -1 = (nd - no) / no

12

Therefore, the average current in the gap, which is equal to the number
of electrons traveling per second will be

I =Io. e(.d)

13

where 10 is the initial current at the cathode.

BREAKDOWN IN GASES
Townsend mechanism when applied to breakdown at atmospheric pressure
was found to have certain drawbacks. Firstly, according to the Townsend
theory, current growth occurs as a result of ionization processes, only. But in
practice, breakdown voltages were found to depend on the gas pressure
and the geometry of the gap. Secondly, the mechanism predicts time lags of
the order of 10-5 s, while in actual practice breakdown was observed to occur
at very short times of the order of 10-8 s. Also, While the Townsend
mechanism predicts a very diffused form of discharge, in actual practice,
discharges were found to be filamentary and irregular. The Townsend
mechanism failed to explain all these observed phenomena and as a result,
around 1940, Rather and, meek and. Loeb independently proposed the

Streamer theory.
Streamer Theory
In practice, discharges were found to be filamentary and irregular. The
Townsend Mechanism failed to explain all the above phenomena and
therefore around 1940, Raether and Meek and Loeb independently
proposed the Streamer theory.
The growth of charge carriers in an avalanche in a uniform field is described
d
by e . This is valid only as long as the influence of the space charge due to
ions is very small compared to the applied field. In his studies on the effect
of space charge on avalanche growth, Raether observed that when charge
concentration was between 106 and 108, the growth of the avalanche
became weak.
On the other hand, when the charge concentration was higher than 10 8, the
avalanche current was followed by a steep rise in the current between the
electrodes leading to the breakdown of the gap.
Both the slow growth at low charge concentrations and fast growth at high
charge concentrations have been attributed to the modification of the
originally applied uniform field (E) by the space charge P. Fig. 2 shows the
electric field around the avalanche as it progresses along the gap and the
resulting modification to the applied field.
For simplicity, the space charge at the head of the avalanche is assumed to
have a spherical volume containing negative charge at its top because of
the higher electron mobility. Under these conditions, the field gets enhanced
at the top of the avalanche with field lines from the anodes terminating on its
head. Further, at the bottom of the avalanche, the field between electrons
and ions reduces the applied field (E). Still further down the field between
cathode and the positive ions gets enhanced.
Thus, the field distortion occurs and it becomes noticeable with a charge
carrier number n < 106. For example, in nitrogen at p = 760 ton and with a
gap distance of 2 cm, the filled field distortion will be about 1%. This 1% field
distortion over the entire gap will lead to a doubling of the avalanche size,
but as the distortion is significant only in the vicinity of the top of the
avalanche its effect is still negligible. However, if a charge density in the
avalanche approaches n = 108 the space charge filled field and the applied
field will have the same magnitude and this leads to the initiation of a
streamer.
Thus, the space charge fields play an important role in the growth of
avalanches in corona and spark discharges in non-uniform field gaps. It has
been shown that transformation from an avalanche to a streamer generally
occurs when the. charge within the avalanche head reaches
A critical value of
no e(xe) = 108 or xc lies between 18 and 20,

Where xc is the length of the avalanche in which the secondary electrons

are produced by photo-ionization of gas molecules in the inter-electrode
gap.

Fig.( 2) Field distortion in a gap due to space charge

Further, cloud chamber photographs of the avalanche development have
shown that, under certain conditions, Ole space charge developed in an
avalanche can transform the avalanche into streamers which lead to very
rapid development of breakdown.
In the theories proposed by Raether and Meek it has been shown that when
the avalanche in the gap reaches a critical size, the combined applied field
and the space charge field cause intense ionization and excitation of the gas
particles in front of the avalanche. Instantaneous recombination between
positive ions and electrons releases photons which in turn produce
secondary electrons by photo-ionization. These secondary electrons under
the influence of the field in the gap develop into secondary avalanches as
shown in Fig. 3. Since photons travel with the velocity of light, the photoionization process gives rise to rapid development of conduction channels
across the gap.

Fig. (3) Formation of secondary avalanches due to photo-ionization

On the basis of experimental observations Raether proposed an empirical
expression for the streamer spark criterion of the form

xc = 17.7 + In xc + In (Er/E)

(14)

Where Er is the space charged field directed radially at the head of the

avalanche and E is the applied field.

The conditions for the transition from the avalanche to streamer assumes
that the space charged field, E, approaches the externally applied field
(E = Er) and hence the breakdown criterion (Eq. (14)) becomes

xc = 17.7+ln xc

(15)

The minimum breakdown value for a uniform field gap by streamer

mechanism is then obtained on the assumption that the transition from an
avalanche to a streamer occurs when the avalanche has just crossed a
gap, d. Thus, a minimum breakdown voltage by streamer mechanism
occurs only when a critical lengthxc = d.
Meek proposed a simple quantitative criterion to estimate the electric field
that transforms an avalanche into a streamer. The field Er produced by the
space charge, at the radius r, is given by

Er = 5.27 * 10-7( e(xe))/(X/P)1/2

Where is Townsend's first ionization coefficient,

V/cm

(16)

p is the gas pressure in

ton, and x is the distance to which the streamer has extended in the gap.
According to Meek, the minimum breakdown voltage is obtained when Er =
E and x = d in the above equation.
The equation simplifies into,

d+ln(/P)= 14.5+ln(E/P)+1/2 ln(d/p) (17)

This equation is solved between /P and E/P at which a given p
and d satisfy the equation. The breakdown voltage is given by the
corresponding product of Eand d.
The above simple criterion enabled an agreement between the calculated
and the measured breakdown voltages. This theory also neatly fits in with
the observed filamentary, crooked channels and the branching of the spark
channels, and cleared up many ambiguities of the Townsend mechanism
when applied to breakdown in a high pressure gas across a long gap.
It is still controversial as to which mechanism operates in uniform field
conditions over a given range of pd values. It is generally assumed that
for pd values below 1000 torr-cm and gas pressures varying from 0.01 to
300 torr, the Townsend mechanism operates, while at higher pressures
and pd values the Streamer mechanism plays the dominant role in
explaining the breakdown phenomena.
POST-BREAKDOWN PHENOMENA AND APPLICATIONS

This is the phenomenon which occurs after the actual breakdown has taken
place and is of technical importance. Glow and arc discharges are the postbreakdown phenomena, and there are many devices that operate over these
regions. In a Townsend discharge see Fig. (1) The current increases gradually
as a function of the applied voltage. Further to this point (B) only the current
increases and the discharge changes from the Townsend type to Glow type
(BC). Further increase in current results in a very small reduction in voltage
across the gap (CD) corresponding to the normal glow region. The gap voltage
again increases (DE), when the current is increased more, but eventually leads
to a considerable drop in the applied voltage. This is the region of the arc
discharge (EG). The phenomena that occur in the region CG are the postbreakdown phenomena consisting of glow discharge (CE) and the arc discharge
(EG).
Glow Discharge
A glow discharge is characterized by a diffused luminous glow. The colour of the
glow discharge depends on the cathode material and the gas used. The glow
discharge covers the cathode partly and the space between the cathode and the
anode will have intermediate dark and bright regions. This is called normal glow.
If the current in the normal glow is increased such that the discharge covers the
entire cathode surface, then it becomes abnormal glow. In a glow discharge, the
voltage drop between the electrodes is substantially constant, ranging from 75 to
300 V over a current range of 1 mA to 100 mA depending on the type of the gas.
The properties of the glow discharge are used in many practical applications,
such as cold cathode gaseous voltage stabilized tubes (voltage regulation tubes
or VR tubes), for rectification, as a relaxation oscillator, and as an amplifier.
Arc Discharge
If the current in the gap is increased to about 1 A or more, the voltage across the
gap suddenly reduces to a few volts (2050 V). The discharge becomes very
luminous and noisy (region EG in Fig. 1 This phase is called the arc discharge
and the current density over the cathode region increases to very high values of
103 to 107A/cm2. Arcing is associated with high temperatures, ranging from
1000C to several thousand degrees Celsius. The discharge will contain a very
high density of electrons and positive ions, called the arc plasma. The study of
arcs is important in circuit breakers and other switch contacts. It is a convenient
high temperature high intensity light source. It is used for welding and cutting of
metals. It is the light source in lamps such as carbon arc lamp. High temperature
plasmas are used for generation of electricity through magneto-hydro dynamic
(MHD) or nuclear fusion processes.

Fig. (1) d.c. voltage-current characteristic of an electrical discharge with

electrodes having no sharp points or edges
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN USING GASES AND
GAS MIXTURES FOR INSULATION PURPOSES
Over the years, considerable amount of work has been done to adopt a specific
gas for practical use. Before adopting a particular gas or gas mixture for a
practical purpose, it is useful to gain knowledge of what the gas does, what its
composition is, and what the factors is that influence its performance. The
greater the versatility of the operating performance demanded from an insulating
gas or gas mixture, the more rigorous would he the requirements which it should
meet. These requirements needed by a good dielectric do not exist in a majority
of the gases. Generally, the preferred properties of a gaseous dielectric for high
voltage applications are:
(a) high dielectric strength,
(b) thermal stability and chemical inactivity towards materials of construction,
(c) non-flammability and physiological inertness, and environmentally nonhazardous,
(d), low temperature of condensation,
(e) good heat transfer, and
(f) ready availability at moderate cost.
Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) which has received much study over the years has
been found to possess most of the above requirements.
Of the above properties, dielectric strength is the most important property of a
gaseous dielectric for practical use. The dielectric strength of gases is
comparable with those of solid and liquid dielectrics see Fig. (2.).
It is clear that SF6 has high dielectric strength and low liquefaction temperature,
and it can be used over a wide range of operating conditions. SF6 was also
found to have excellent arc-quenching properties. Therefore, it is widely used as
an insulating as well as arc-quenching medium in high voltage apparatus

Fig (2) d.c. breakdown strength of typical solid, liquid, gas and vacuum
insulations in uniform, fields
SF6 and Other Gas Mixtures
SF6 is widely used for applications in power system due to its high dielectric
strength and good arc interruption properties. However, SF6 gas has been found
to be a green house gas that causes environmental problems. The production
and use of SF6 gas has increased steadily and today it is about 10,000 metric
tons due to leakages into the atmosphere from the electrical equipment. The
concentration of SF6 in the environment has been steadily increasing. The
release of SF6 into the atmosphere leads to concentration of large volumes of
SF6 gas in the upper atmosphere. SF6 molecules absorb energy from the sun
and radiate it into the atmosphere for long duration of time.
There has been a large concern for these environmental effects and therefore
the electrical industry has been looking for an alternate gas or gas mixture to be
used in electrical equipment which presently use SF6 gas, as an insulating and
arc interruption medium. The large amount of experimental data that is presently
available suggest that 40% SF6/60% N2 mixtures have all the dielectric
characteristics that make it suitable for use as insulation in high voltage
equipment. Ideally the gas mixture should be suitable for use in the
existing equipment as well as in the equipment that will be designed and
manufactured in future.
Extensive research work done in SF6 and its mixtures with N2, air and CO2 has
given breakdown values which are 8090% of the pure SF6 values as shown in
Table
Lightning Impulse Breakdown Strength of SF6/Other Gas Mixtures
Breakdown
Mixture Ratio
Strength
(kV/cm)
SF6 gas 100%

89.0

1% SF6/99% Nitrogen

80.0

10% SF6/90% Nitrogen

78.0

20% SF6/80% Nitrogen

76.5

40% SF6/60% Nitrogen

75.6

10% SF6/90% CO2

76.5

20% SF6/80% CO2

76.5

40% SF6/60% CO2

75.5

10% SF6/90% Air

77.0

20% SF6/80% Air

76.5

40% SF6/60% Air

75.6

The industry is looking for a gas mixture that can replace the pure SF6 gas in the
existing SF6 insulated apparatus, requiring no change in hardware,
test procedures or ratings. SF6/N2 mixture is the one that has been found to be
a good replacement for SF6. SF6/N2 mixtures have been used in Gas
Insulated Transmission System and were found to perform well. Also, the work
done so far has shown that the ability of SF6/N2 mixtures to quench high current
arcs is promising.
The cost of such mixtures is low and is less sensitive to field non-uniformities
present inside the equipment. In view of the above, the industry is trying to find
out the optimum mixture ratio and the total pressure of the SF6/N2 mixture that
would be required for a variety of applications. For many applications, such as
Gas Insulated Transmission Systems, cables, capacitors, current transformers
and voltage transformers, mixtures with different SF6 concentrations varying
from 5% to 40%.
SF6/N2 mixtures show promise as a medium in circuit breakers. It has
been found that a mixture containing 69% SF6/31 % N2 gave higher recovery
rate than pure SF6 at the same partial pressure. It has also been shown that it is
possible to further improve the arc interruption properties of SF6 by using

SF6/N2 or SF6/He mixtures.

In summary, it may be said that there is an urgent need to significantly
reduce the use of SF6 gas and its leakage from power apparatus. Use of gas
mixtures appears to be feasible, but it has to be ensured that there is no loss in
the performance of the equipment. Wherefore, further research has to be carried
out to identify a suitable gas mixture, its pressure and its arc interruption
capability to be used in the existing apparatus and the apparatus that will be
designed and manufactured in future