| Abstract: | The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), established to study the production and mitigation of S2F10 (disulfur decafluoride), one of a number of toxic by-products formed in electric discharges in the insulating gas SF 6, is described. The particular concern about S2F 10 is due to its highly toxic nature, the ceiling limit value being 10 parts per billion (ppb, or 1 part in 108), and the need for development of sensitive detection techniques down to this level. In the presence of an electrical discharge such as an arc, spark, or corona, a portion of the SF6 decomposes into lower fluorides of sulphur which can react to form a number of chemically active by-products including SOF2 and SO2F2 . During the maintenance or repair of SF6-insulated equipment, the handling of these gaseous is a matter of concern. Preliminary arc experiment results, reported health-related incidents caused by SF6 by-products, and ongoing studies are discussed |
