High Quality SF6 Circuit Breakers for Medium & High Voltage
Discover SF6 circuit breakers with IEC certification, 50-63kA breaking current, and IP40 protection for reliable power transmission.
The achievement around 1983 of the first single-break 245 kV and the corresponding 420 kV to 550 kV and 800 kV, with respectively 2, 3, and 4 chambers per pole, led to the dominance of SF 6 circuit breakers in the complete range of high voltages. Several characteristics of SF 6 circuit breakers can explain their success:
The first high-voltage SF 6 circuit breaker with a high short-circuit current capability was produced by Westinghouse in 1959. This circuit breaker in a grounded tank (called a dead tank), could interrupt 41.8 kA under 138 kV (10,000 MV·A) and 37.6 kA under 230 kV (15,000 MV·A).
The first high-voltage SF 6 circuit breaker built in 1956 by Westinghouse, could interrupt 5 kA under 115 kV, but it had six interrupting chambers in series per pole.
SF 6 gas is electronegative and has a strong tendency to absorb free electrons. The contacts of the breaker are opened in a high-pressure flow of sulfur hexafluoride gas, and an arc is struck between them. The gas captures the conducting free electrons in the arc to form relatively immobile negative ions.
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