SF6 Leak Detector

Hello

You could contact: http://www.detectors.lc-solutions.com/p1.php

They have that small fast sensing detector at left.

Damage by SF6: Refer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur_hexafluoride

Best to keep well clear of SF6, (once to be used as a gas in war), as the fluorine atoms are not well tolerated by the body, although some compounds are used in medical procedures.

Electrical sparking through SF6, as happens in High Voltage switchgear, does result in much more toxic compounds than the initial SF6.

In earlier days, when SF6 HV switches were repaired, the maintenance crew breathed in the released SF6 along with the far more toxic compounds.

Resultant later damage included Kidney and liver tumours and cancers, because the body was never designed to cope with such man-made molecules.

Trust that assists you.

Kind Regards....

What are you on about, do you actually know anything about this subject - I am willing to bet $20000 USD that you have no idea. Where did you copy and paste that information from - perhaps it was from a joke magazine or something like that. Perhaps this was menat as a joke and if so then I apologise as I did not find it funny.

I assume you were looking for a GA for this, well guess what you won't be getting one from me or anyone else who knows anything about this subject.

You should be ashamed of yourself. If this is the kind of responses that are offered on this forum then it is a sad day for engineers.

Guest here again, my previous response was directed at Sparkstation and not Tad

Well Guest, don't Give Sparkstation a GA at least his post was more helpful than yours, it made me want to understand more about SF6 and thanks to all those who answered, this kind of formums are not made just to make things easy, just type a question and expect an answer, it gives us the starting point, i.e. I never knew there were cameras that are gas leak detectors, or that actually the best way to find a leak is plain old water and soap.

but now I know what to start looking for, thanks again. I give GA to all.

CDR

Guest (different to original Guest), Lets see, someone copies and pastes completely incorrect information that could be used by some baffoon to kill himself/herself and then gets a GA- was the GA for the attached picture ? Looks like an "old boys network" at work here as there have been no damning comments from other Guru's.

At least if you are going to plagiarize yourself then please do it with correct information !!

Mark

SF6 is non-toxic. I think you are thinking of S2F10, which is used to make SF6. THis is very toxic and may have been used in chemical warfare

From Wikipedia

...like all gases other than oxygen, it displaces the oxygen needed for breathing. In general, dense, odourless gases in confined areas present the hazard of suffocation.

Might not have this problem in outdoors (windy) conditions but cause serious problems in indoors if there is a leak.

SF6 has no effect on the ozone layer, and neither does CO2. SF6 is 24,000 times more powerful than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.

Tad

Thanks everyone for your answers, All are very good options, I'll give them to the company I'm working with, that is an Electrical Distributor in Bolivia.

Hopefully they will buy something.

Best wishes to all,

Cristhian De la Reza

Yes, hopefully they will - SF₆ is not something to take lightly! The one part of your original question that nobody has yet addressed is, "to whom do you make release notifications?" I'm sure there is some sort of governing body in Bolivia equivalent to our Environmental Protection Agency, and possibly an equivalent to our Local Emergency Planning Committee/State Emergency Response Commission (LEPC/SERC) system. These are the folks most likely to top that list. Check with the local Fire Department for their guidance on this.

I'll try to find out but I assure you if I say SF₆ to the firedept they woudn't know what I'm talking about.

Another question about the SF_6:

When the SF₆ meter marks low, here they just empty the tank and recharge again, but all the SF₆ just gets in the air.

How should be the normal procedure to recharge.

Thanks again

Well, first, find and fix the leak! That has to be an expensive bit of equipment if they just keep refilling it! I'd expect they'd also want to capture any residual material for re-use.

I have no idea what your governmental organization is like, but surely there is an environmental function, or at least public safety and health, that would want to know about releases of toxic or other dangerous materials. It would probably be a cabinet-level position, perhaps with local (departamento) level branches. Larger cities and towns might have input too.

Hi cdelaraza,

where is 'here' ? Pretty much everybody has stopped such practises in the 'developed' world - SF6 is (as already noted here) a VERY powerful greenhouse gas.

Besides the post from CoronaCamerMan, you should be in touch with DILO:

http://www.dilo-gmbh.de/cms/front_content.php?idcat=8

The also make all the hardware you need to outgassing tanks & switchgear, etc.

Regards,

RF_G

SF6 prices I have heard of are on the order of $10-$12 a pound and it comes in cylinders.

In the USA the EPA does have an annual meeting, and active reporting system with many utility and industrial members.

Fire departments would not be involved unless they were called to a utility underground vault to fight a fire, where they would typically have oxygen breathing apparatus (OBA) on anyhow and the small quantity of SF6 would be the least of there concerns at that point.

Normally in an open field electric utility substation application the air and wind will rapidly disperse SF6, as the leaks are very small (pinholes) on electrical equipment. during any de-gas operations the SF6 is recovered, purified and re-used.

But SF6 is also used as a "blanket" gas over magnesium and flammable metals in foundry operations. There containment and recovery are more of a problem.

In New Zealand (I have read) there have been some pretty serious fines leveled for loosing greenhouse gases.

Here is a link I found that you may find useful in persuading the powers-that-be there needs to be a proactive approach to sulfur hexafluoride:

http://www.epa.gov/electricpower-sf6/

Hope this helps, and cheers!

Hi,

I am Suresh.

For the 1st question,you can purchase Dilo make Gas leak detector,made in german which is very worthful to find gas leak in even a strong wind conditions.

For the 2nd question,the leak has to be informed to the manufacturer of the product.

We sell world leading SF6 leak detectors.

http://www.ionscience.com/Products/SF6LeakCheckP1p/tabid/97/Default.aspx

SF6 is not in itself dangerous but it is a potent greenhouse gas, and it

's leakage is controlled.

Call me at Ion Science Ltd, Nr. Cambridge UK if you need help.

Nick Tucker

hi

we have leakdetcotrs for sF6 Gas

u can measure in ppm, gm/yr and cc/s

if u need any detail pls free to cotact on girishtaurus@gmail.com
regards

Girish Nagaraj

Hello,

1- the best ever option is the FLIR camera GF-series as per the link http://www.flir.com/thermography/eurasia/en/content/?id=11322

2- you can read details about the SF6 effects on the wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfur_hexafluoride

I hope my answer is not late.

BR,

Motaz

Flir SF6 camera (is a competitor) to the Sherlock SF6 Gas Leak Detection Camera originally mentioned in this article.

The Sherlock SF6 camera has much better video image quality, on camera video storage, post-processing software to colorize and measure the ppm concentration of the gas leak; these are all things the Flir cameras cannot do and were never meant to do.

Here you can see video from the Sherlock SF6 Gas Leak Camera:

http://www.specialcamera.com/SHLK-IND.html

I work with SF6 on a regular basis and everyone touched on but skipped the biggest health hazard... SF6 is heavier then oxygen... much heavier.. thats why it is used as a blanketing gas. SF6 leaks, even outdoors, depending on environmental conditions will collect at low points... If indoors, they will collect in crawl areas, if outdoors and there is a sewer drain near the leak, this could be hazardous. You do NOT want to inhale it. It's not a matter of exhale and it is out.. it will suffocate you. So, besides the fact that it may kill us all in a couple thousand years by warming the planet, it will kill you instantly if you breath in enough of it. Also, in the United States, the Fire Department would be a good starting point for contact. Hazardous Materials teams are becoming more all inclusive and even if they don't know exactly how to deal with it, they will know how to locate who does. Different guest then all the above

For SF6 Gas life cycle products go to www.wika.de/sf6

Especially good in windy conditions