It is a gas that is used in electrical power equipment.

It is
colorless, odorless, non-flammable and chemically stable.
Pure SF6 is not poisonous and not dangerous to inhale,
provided the oxygen content is high enough. In principle
you can inhale a mixture of 20% oxygen and 80% SF6
without danger. SF6 is about 6 times heavier than air.
It is used as an insulating gas in substations, cooling
medium in transformers and as an insulating and arc
quenching medium in switchgear for high and medium
voltage applications.
SF6 also is used in other ways. Mixed with argon, it can be
used in insulated windows. SF6 is used in the metal
industry, for example, when casting magnesium. Eye
surgeons use SF6 as a cooling agent in operations. SF6 can
also be used as a fire extinguishing agent because it is non-
flammable and cooling.
There are two reasons for using SF6 in electrical equipment:
1. SF6 provides extremely good electrical insulation and very
effectively quenches electric arcs.
2. SF6 effectively controls circuit-breaker arcs because it has
excellent cooling properties at temperatures (1500-5000 K) at
which the arcs extinguish (the gas uses energy when it
dissociates and therefore produces a cooling effect).
The SF6 molecule is very reflective and contributes to the
greenhouse effect. But the concentration of the gas is
extremely low (0.000000000003 by volume). This means
that the contribution of SF6 to the man-made greenhouse
effect is very little, less than 0.1 percent of the total effect.
This should be compared with carbon dioxide CO2 which
contributes about 60%.
In large concentrations, the decomposition products are
corrosive and poisonous. The solid decomposition products
are mainly metal fluorides in the form of a fine grey powder.
The powder only appears where arcing has occurred, for
instance in used circuit breakers. The powder can be easily
taken care of as separate waste.
Atmosphere
1. SF6 does not contribute to the ozone hole.
2. Although SF6 is a greenhouse gas but its
contribution to global warming remains negligible.
3. The use of SF6 in electric power equipment is
contained. Only a small fraction needs to be released
by leakage and at handling operations.
Atmosphere
4. The SF6 in electric power equipment is recyclable. Most of
the gas can be reused on-site. Only a small fraction is
contaminated to the extent that additional processing will be
necessary to make it reusable.
5. SF6 can be removed from the ecocycle, if necessary by a
thermal process which retransforms it into the natural
substances fluorspar and gypsum.
Atmosphere
6. Presently, only about one third of the SF6 produced
worldwide is used by the manufacturers of electrical power
equipment. Most of this gas is filled into newly installed
equipment.
7. SF6 leakage rates from operating equipment can be kept
below 0.2%/year with current technology. Leakage can
therefore be kept so low that also future contribution of
electrical SF6 to the greenhouse effect remains negligible.
Atmosphere
8. The total environmental impact of power equipment can
be assessed by environmental lifecycle analysis (LCA)
according to ISO 14000. It shows that the use of SF6 allows
to minimize the integral environmental load of equipment.
This is because the savings of other materials and their
associated environmental load quantitatively
overcompensate the impact caused by SF6 losses.
Safety
1. After more than 30 years of successful practical
experience, the handling of SF6 in gas-insulated
electric power equipment is an established
technology.
2. SF6 is non-toxic.
Safety
3. Similar to CO2, SF6 is heavier than air and may
accumulate if released into unventilated rooms. It may
thereby replace oxygen. This normally does not constitute a
suffocation hazard because the SF6 quantities contained in
electric power equipment are too small to cause dangerously
high concentrations in the air. Only where very large SF6
quantities are released into small rooms, ventilation should
be provided for security.
Safety
4. SF6 decomposition products caused by electrical
discharges in normally operating equipment do not
constitute a health hazard because they are removed by
absorbers.
5. Highly toxic SF6-decomposition products like S2F10 do
not constitute any health risk at all because they are only
produced in extremely low quantity .
Safety
6. Toxic decomposition may be generated in electrical
discharges. However, they are in high quantity only in the
rare event of heavy failure arcing (switchgear failure or
internal arcing) when released they are diluted and
chemically transformed into less toxic products. They
produce a smell warning already at concentrations which are
not yet health-risk relevant. With proper safety precautions
and personnel instruction, no health risk is incurred.
1. SF6 is a non-flammable gas that is used in
electrical apparatus.
2. SF6 is not poisonous.
3. In electrical applications, SF6 is only used in sealed
and safe systems which under normal
circumstances do not leak gas.
4. SF6 is collected and recycled if a piece of
equipment or a substation needs to be opened.
5. SF6 has a very high dielectric withstand capability.
6. SF6 effectively quenches arcs in circuit breakers.
7. SF6 apparatus is compact and almost
maintenance-free.
8. SF6 equipment is extremely safe in operation and
for users.
9. SF6 does not destroy the ozone layer.
10. The contribution of SF6 to the greenhouse effect
is less than 0.1 percent of the total that mankind
generates.
11. In SF6-filled switchgear-decomposition products
are created they can be handled safely and are
harmless to the environment.