High Voltage Insulation Gas Mixtures alternative to SF6.

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• Prof Christian M Franck, ETH Zurich
• Wednesday 06 March 2013, 14:00-15:00
• Level 11: CAP Seminar Room.

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High Voltage Insulation Gas Mixtures alternative to SF6 .

Abstract Sulphur-Hexafluoride (SF6) combines excellent chemical with electrical properties and is the most commonly used gas for gas insulation substations. The major disadvantage, however, is its global warming potential which is 25’000 times higher than that of CO2 . Atmospheric measurements show that the release of SF6 to the atmosphere is continuously around 6’000t per year. Consequently, there is a strong wish to find alternative gases to replace SF6 in high voltage insulation. In this presentation our search strategy for alternative gas mixtures is presented. Key element is a systematic investigation of the avalanche parameters (swarm parameters) of a discharge. The effective ionization coefficient is measured for varying mixing ratios in a pulsed Townsend experiment to deduce a fundamental understanding of the involved interactions. Synergistic effects between the different constituent of the gas mixture are exploited to optimize the electrical properties of the gas mixture. Methods to pre-screen the available candidate molecules efficiently are derived by means of quantum chemical simulations. To deduce breakdown voltages for relevant geometries and voltage waveshapes from the measured avalanche parameters, physical models of the streamer to leader transition are applied and verified in a dedicated setup.

Biography Christian M. Franck is Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) for High Voltage Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich. He studied physics at the Universities of Bonn (Germany), Edinburgh (Scotland), and Kiel (Germany) where he graduated 1999 with a diploma. Afterwards he worked at the Max-Planck-Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald (Germany) in the area of electromagnetic wave propagation in magnetized plasmas, receiving his Ph.D. in experimental physics in 2003. Then he worked at the ABB Research Center in Baden (Switzerland) in the area of current interruption, limitation and high voltage insulation. From 2005 on he headed the group for high voltage systems and gas circuit breakers. In January 2010 he joined ETH Zurich. The focus of his current research is in the area of future electric power transmission technologies. Topics are high-voltage direct current (HVDC) networks, HVDC circuit breakers, HVDC gas insulation, hybrid AC/DC overhead lines, and the substitution of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) in gas-insulated equipment.

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