CALCULATION OF DIELECTRIC STRENGTH OF

SOME SF6 GAS MIXTURES

Y. Qiu and D.M. Xiao

High Voltage Division

Xi'an Jiaotong University
Xi'an, China 710049

INTRODUCTION

Interest in the possible use of compressed electronegative

gas mixtures in high-voltage apparatus has stimulated many
investigators to try to develop simple methods for calculating
the dielectric strength of gas mixtures from the basic
parameters of the constituent gases. A simple method is to
calculate the effective ionization coefficient (a) in a gas
mixture by the sum of the partial-pressure-weighted a in the
constituent gases, which is based on the assumption that no
interaction takes place between constituent gas molecules. This
simple method was shown to apply to SF6/NZ, SF6/C0 2 and SF6/air
mixtures [1] • And it was pointed out later by Chantry and
Wootton[2] that the assumption of this method would be best
satisfied by those gas components, which individually have
similar electron energy distributions. This criterion for
determining the applicability of the simple calculation method
is certainly true, but calculation of electron energy
distributions in the constituent gases is not an easy task. The
present paper presents a simple criterion to determine whether
the above-mentioned calculation method is applicable to a
certain gas mixture.

THE PROPOSED CRITERION

Calculation of the ionization and attachment coefficients in

a binary electronegative gas mixture by the sum of the partial-
pressure-weighted coefficients in the constituent gases can be
expressed as

( 1)

11m=x11t+(l-X) 112 (2)

or am=xat+(1-x)a2 (3)

161
L. G. Christophorou et al. (eds.), Gaseous Dielectrics VII
© Springer Science+Business Media New York 1994
where the subscripts 1, 2 and m denote the two constituent
gases and the gas mixture, respectively; and x is the
fractional concentration of the first gas in the mixture.
In Eq.(3) if we set a different E/p value each time and let
Qm=O, then we can obtain the (E/p)o values as a function of x
for the gas mixture.
It can be seen from Eq.(l) through Eq.(3) that a m, ~m and a m
are all a linear function of x. And it is quite obvious that
Eqs.(l) and (2) are true only when the measured a m and ~m are
a linear function of x, which can therefore be a simple
criterion for determining the validity of linear addition of
the partial-pressure-weighted coefficients.

SF6 AHD NITROGEN GAS MIXTURE

Equations (1) and (2) can apply very weIl to the SF6 /N z gas
mixture because the electron energy distribution in SF6 is quite
similar to that in Nz , and the drift velocity in these two gases
is also about the same[2]. Therefore, it is expected that the
measured a m and ~m in SF 6 /N z should be a linear function of x.
Figure 1 shows the measured am/p and ~m/P as a function of x in
the SF6 /N z mixture at an E/p value of 67.7kV/mm·MPa using the
steady-state Townsend methode It can be seen in Fig. 1 that
both am/p=f(x) and ~m/p=g(x) are very close to a straight line,
and it is interesting to note that the ionization coefficient
increases with the increase of SF6 content.
Figure 2 shows the good agreement between the measured
relative electric strength (RES) of the SF 6 /N z mixture and the
calculated curve. In calculating (im in SF6 /N z , the following
expressions were used.
ä'tfp=28 [E/p-88] (4)

az/p=6600exp[-215/(E/p)] (5)

(6)

In these express ions E/p is in kV/mm·MPa; alp and alp are in

l/mm·MPa.

SF, AHD ARGON GAS MIXTURE

Figure 2 also shows the agreement between the measured RES of

the SF6 /Ar mixture[3] and the calculated curve. In calculating
ä m for SF6 /Ar, a graphic method was used with the ionization
coefficients in argon taken from Ref.[4]. It is not surprising
that the agreement for SF6 /Ar is not as good as that for SF6 /N z
because the electron energy distribution in SF6 is slightly
different from that in Ar[5]. The difference in electron energy
distribution between the two constituent gases is demonstrated
by Fig. 3, where it can be seen that both am/p=f (x) and
~m/p=g(x) are quite away from a linear function.

SF, AHD HELIUM GAS MIXTURE

It was reported that the above mentioned simple calculation

method did not apply to the SF6 /He mixture because the electron
energy distributions computed for SF6 and helium were quite

162
 rd 900
§! E/p = 67. 7kV/rrun·MPa
~
.......
...-I
~ 600
0..
~
,
0..
~
300

o 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

x
Figure 1. ~/p(curve 1) and a/p(curve 2) as a
function of x measured in SF6 /N2

1.0r-------------------------~~

0.8

~
0.6

0.4

0.2

o 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

x
Figure 2. RES of SF6 /N2 (1) and SF6/Ar(2)
x,o: measured
- : calculated

163
 E/p = 67. 7kV/mm·MPa

0..
----
~ 600

300

o 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

x
Figura 3. ~/p(l) and a/p(2) as a function
of x measured in SF 6/Ar

~ 0.6

o Ref.6
0.4
x Ref.7
A Ref.8
0.2

o 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

x
Figura 4. RES of SF6!He
O,X,A: measured
- - : calculated with az taken
from He with impurities

164
different from eaeh other[2]. But our previous work showed that
the simple ealeulation method eould be used for SF6 /He if the
Penning ionization proeess in helium was taken into aeeount,
whieh means the ionization eoeffieients in helium with
impurities should be used in the ealeulation[6] instead of
those measured in pure He as shown in Fig.4.
Figure 5 gives the measured Qm/P and 1Im/P in SF6 /He as a
funetion of x. It ean be seen that although both Qm/p=f(x) and
1Im/p=g(x) are not quite elose to a linear funetion, the
ealeulated RES is still in reasonably good agreement with the
experimental data.

DISCUSSIOlf

It is quite interesting that the simple method of the

ealeulation of RES ean be used for SF6 /Ar and SF6 /He mixtures
although in these two cases Qm' 11m and ä m are not quite a linear
funetion of x. The reason for that lies in the great e value in
the following expression.

Qm/p=e[E/p- (E/p) 0] (7)

where (E/p) 0 is the intereept of the oblique line at the

abseissa. It is quite apparent that even if there is a
significant error in ä m at a eertain E/p value, the error in
(E/p)o will be mueh smaller because of the great slope of the
oblique line.

1200 0-.......... SF6 /He

o~ E/p = 67. 7kV/mm·MPa

"
0
rn
~
~
900
0
/~
........
.-I 1-
0
0..

~
~
600
0.. ...
~
/ 0

300 /+
/~
...
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
x
Figure s. q/p(l) and a/p(2) aB a function
of x measured in SF6 /He

165
CONCLUSIONS

A simple criterion is presented for determining whether the

linear addition of the partial-pressure-weighted coefficients
applies to a certain gas mixture. This method can be used for
calculating the dielectric strength of some gas mixtures even
if the proposed criterion is not strietly observed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The financial support of the National Natural Seienee

Foundation of China is gratefully aeknowledged.

REFERENCES

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