IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 24, No.

4; August 2017 2299

The Influence of Cu, Al and Fe Free Metal Particles

on the Insulating Performance of SF6
in C-GIS
Song Xiao1, Xiaoxing Zhang1, Ran Zhuo2, Dibo Wang2, Ju Tang1,
Shuangshuang Tian1 and Yi Li1
1
School of Electrical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
2
Electric Power Research Institute, China Southern Power Grid, Guangzhou 510623, China

ABSTRACT
Studying the influence of free metal particles on breakdown voltage is important to
investigate the insulation performance of SF6 in electric equipment. Under 0.1 MPa
pressure and free metal particles defect, this study shows the influence of particle
number, gap distance and particle variety on SF6 breakdown voltage on AC power.
Experimental results indicate that the breakdown voltage of SF6 decreases as the
number of particles increases and eventually stabilizes; A shorter gap distance means a
greater effect of free metal particles on the SF6 insulation performance during
breakdown; Under the same conditions with copper or aluminum particles, the
breakdown voltage of SF6 is approximate and is simultaneously lower than that with
iron particles. The electric field force of copper and aluminum particles are close, and
larger than that of iron particles, leading to their take-off voltage close and below the
iron particles. Metal particles can reduce the reaction barrier of SF6, copper and
aluminum particles have similar effects on the reaction barrier of SF6, which are
obviously larger than that with iron particles. This study compares the breakdown
performance under different numbers of particles, gap distances and varieties of
particles. Result shows that copper or aluminum particles in C-GIS affect the insulation
performance of SF6 more obviously than that with iron particles.

Index Terms — C-GIS, free metal particles, breakdown, energy band theory,
density functional theory.

1 INTRODUCTION inevitably produce distinct materials and shapes of metal

CUBICLE type gas insulated switchgear (C-GIS) is a
new switchgear used in 10-110 kV power systems. C-GIS
contains devices such as circuit breakers, disconnectors,
potential transformers and current transformers. The main
functions of C-GIS are controlling, protecting, reckoning
and monitoring power systems [1]. The pressure of SF6 in
C-GIS is about 0.1 MPa. SF6 is colorless, tasteless, non-
toxic and has a stable physicochemical property. Meanwhile,
SF6 performs well in electric insulation and arc resistance[2].
Thus SF6 has been widely used in distinct types of electric
equipment including C-GIS.
However, when manufacturers fail to clean C-GIS
thoroughly before the equipment leaves factories, metal
particles that were produced during manufacturing and
assembling remain inside the equipment; In addition, during
the actual operation, the aging of internal insulation, the
vibration of circuit breakers and other factors will
Manuscript received on 16 September 2016, in final form 25 March
2017, accepted 19 April 2017. Corresponding author: X. Zhang.
particles. Metal particles will rise and drift if the electric field
reaches a certain intensity. As the electric field continues to
strengthen, the electric field distortion caused by free metal
particles stimulates partial discharge and even a breakdown.
Hence, free metal particles adversely affect the insulation of
electrical equipment.
Many simulation and experimental studies on SF6 insulation
performance under metal particles are currently performed
worldwide. For instance, a computer software based on the
Runge-Kutta method is used to calculate the trajectory of a
spherical metal particle between inclined plate electrodes filled
with SF6 [3]. Furthermore, partial discharge and breakdown
voltage of SF6 with metal particles in GIS triple junction are
obviously reduced compared with those without particles [4]. It
is discovered that under the same pressure and particle number, a
large particle size has increased effects on SF6 breakdown
performance [5]. Todd Hattori has studied the relation between
the length of aluminum wire in GIS and SF6 AC flashover
characteristics. Hattori has found that the length of aluminum
wire is negatively correlated to the flashover voltage, but is
positively correlated to the discharge capacity [6].

DOI: 10.1109/TDEI.2017.006343
2300 S. Xiao et al.: The Influence of Cu, Al and Fe Free Metal Particles on the Insulating Performance of SF6 in C-GIS
However, almost all these studies focus on SF6 insulation
performance only under the defect of fixed particles from
the particle trajectory, particle size, SF6 gas pressure, and
discharge capacity. Investigating the effect of the other
three factors, namely, particle number, gap distance and
particle variety on SF6 breakdown voltage of power
frequency is necessary. The need for such a study is mainly
due to three reasons: First, the distribution of particles in
the SF6 chamber of C-GIS is nonuniform; second, the gap
distances in the SF6 chamber vary; and third, metal particle
materials may contain copper, aluminum and iron.
To simulate the particle defect in C-GIS, this study
places square foils between ball-bowl electrodes with a gap
distance of 5 or 10 mm. We used 2×2 mm2 square flakes
with smooth surfaces to simulate real particles. We did not
choose smaller metal particles because they may jump out
of the area between the sphere and bowl electrodes under
the influence of an electric field. We did not choose larger
metal particles because they may connect the electrodes in
series. The flake thicknesses of these three types of metals
were different to ensure that their weights were nearly the
same (≈9 mg). The influence of particle number, gap
distance and particle variety on the SF6 breakdown voltage
of power frequency is discussed in this study.
2 EXPERIMENTAL SECTION
2.1 EXPERIMENTAL CIRCUIT
Figure 1. Experimental circuit.
The experimental circuit used in the study is shown in
Figure 1. The gas breakdown of power frequency is tested
in the device shown in Figure 2. This device can be used for
gas insulation experiments. The experimental device is a
sealed container composed of stainless steel flanges and a
cylindrical organic glass tank. The defect model is placed in
the tank full of tentative gas. The breakdown experiment on
power frequency is performed in the tank.
Figure 2. Gas insulation experiment device.
This study mainly investigates the SF6 breakdown
performance of power frequency under metal particles. The
laboratory adopts ball-bowl electrodes to simulate a uniform
electric field in C-GIS. Concurrently, the electrodes can
effectively prevent the particles from escaping [7]. The ball-
bowl electrodes used in this study are shown in Figure 3. The
bowl electrode is a stainless steel hemisphere with an external
radius of 35 mm and an internal radius of 30 mm. The ball
electrode consists of a 30 mm pole and a solid ball with a
radius of 25 or 20 mm for the gap distance to reach 5 or 10 mm,
respectively. The ball electrode is also made of stainless steel.
The spherical centers of the ball-bowl electrodes coincide to
always maintain the distance between the electrodes and for the
electric field to be uniform in an ideal condition. Unfortunately,
given the limitation of present mechanical technology,
guaranteeing that the electrode surface is completely smooth
and the electrode curvature is completely the same is difficult.
Hence, the actual electric field is approximately uniform.
Because the working gas pressure of pure SF6 in C-GIS is
around 0.1 MPa, the object of this experiment is SF6 gas in 0.1
MPa, whose purity is perpetually more than 99. 9%.
2.2 EXPERIMENTAL METHOD AND DATA
COLLECTION
1) The internal surfaces of the gas tank and electrodes are
cleaned by using a clean silk cloth with anhydrous alcohol. The
influence of solid particles, water, and other impurities, except
metal particles, on the power frequency breakdown should be
diminished. When the breakdown test is ensured in a clean and
dry environment, metal particles are placed into the electrode
gap. Finally, the tightness of the experimental device is
checked.
2) Tentative gas is piped into the tank to eliminate air. The
procedure is repeated twice to reduce the gas impurities and
moisture in the device. Subsequently, 0.1 MPa tentative gas is
piped into the tank.
3) Extremely low power frequency voltage is applied to the
sample initially. The voltage rises gradually with 0.3 kV/s until
breakdown. The breakdown voltage value is recorded and
calculated repetitively every 5 minutes. The final value is then
averaged by 5 records.
3 ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The number of metal particles in the same material is set as 0,
1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 to investigate the influence of the particle
number on breakdown voltage. Copper, aluminum and iron
particles exist in C-GIS and these particles are rectangular,
hemispherical, and irregularly shaped [8]. Therefore, to reflect
the influence of particle materials on breakdown performance,
this study employs copper, aluminum and iron square foils to
simulate the defect of metal particles in C-GIS. The side length
of the foils is 2 mm because the maximum length of the
particles in GIS is 3 mm [9]. The gap distance is set as 5 mm or
10 mm to investigate the effect of gap distance on breakdown
performance.
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 24, No. 4; August 2017 2301

Ø15 Research by Masanori Hara has shown that metal particles can
significantly reduce the initial voltage of partial discharge
between a gap and promote the development of positive and
negative streamers [10]. The existence of free metal particles

30
generates a distorted electric field between ball-bowl electrodes.
Breakdown voltage decreases when the inhomogeneous degree
R 20 of electric field increases. In addition, more metal particles
means greater inhomogeneity of the electric field. Research by
Sarathi has also shown that random jitter of particles between
R 30 electrodes obviously decreases gas insulating property
R 35 accompanied with discharge [11]. During the experiment, we
also found that copper or aluminum particles in the ball-bowl
electrodes would jump when the applied voltage reaches certain
values called take-off voltages, which are all lower than that of
iron particles. Breakdown would appear immediately after the
random jitter of particles. In addition, the breakdown voltages of
copper or aluminum particles are also lower than that of iron
particles. The take-off voltage is positively correlated with
breakdown voltage.
Meanwhile, as the number of particles increases, the drop of
breakdown voltage flattens. As the number of particles exceeds
7, the breakdown voltage tends to stabilize gradually. This
occurrence is mainly caused by the free metal particles jittering
constantly and colliding with electrodes frequently when the
voltage reaches a certain value. Jitter and collision shortens the
effective insulation distance of gas. Once the particle number
Figure 3. Ball- bowl electrodes. reaches a certain value, a short circuit can easily form.
3.1 SF6 BREAKDOWN PERFORMANCE OF
POWER FREQUENCY UNDER DIFFERENT
PARTICLE NUMBERS 3.2 SF6 BREAKDOWN PERFORMANCE OF POWER
Figure 4 shows the breakdown voltage of SF6 with FREQUENCY UNDER DIFFERENT GAP DISTANCES
copper, aluminum or iron particles along with the rise of the To describe the decrease in gas insulation performance when
particle number when the gap distance is 10 mm and the metal particles exist in C-GIS, this study defines particle defect
pressure is 0.1 MPa. Based on Figure 4, all three kinds of
factor (PCF) as the ratio of breakdown voltage in the particle
free metal particles cause the breakdown voltage to decline
obviously. When the particle number rises from 0 to 9, the defect to the breakdown voltage in the clean gap [12].
breakdown voltage of SF6 under copper, aluminum and iron
particles decreases from 41 kV to 21, 22 and 26 kV,
5mm SF6 Cu
respectively.
45 5mm SF6 Al
45 5mm and10mm SF6
5mm SF6 Fe
10mm SF6 10mm SF6 Cu 40
10mm SF6 Cu
10mm SF6 Al 35
40 10mm SF6 Al
10mm SF6 Fe 10mm SF6 Fe
30
Voltage(kV)

Voltage (kV)

35 25
20
30 15
10
25
5
0
20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Number
Number
Figure 4. SF6 breakdown voltage under 10 mm distance. Figure 5. SF6 breakdown voltage under the distances of 10 and 5 mm.
2302 S. Xiao et al.: The Influence of Cu, Al and Fe Free Metal Particles on the Insulating Performance of SF6 in C-GIS
Table 2. SF6 PCF under the distance of 5 mm
5mm SF6 Cu
5mm SF6 Al Number 0 1 3 5 7 9
1.0 5mm and 10mm SF6 5mm SF6 Fe
10mm SF6 Cu Cu 1 0.42 0.27 0.17 0.15 0.15
10mm SF6 Al Al 1 0.42 0.25 0.15 0.14 0.13
0.8 10mm SF6 Fe
Fe 1 0.5 0.38 0.33 0.29 0.29

0.6
The steady PCF values of SF6 under copper, aluminum, and
PCF

iron particles when the gap distance is 10 mm are 0.51, 0.54 and
0.4 0.63, respectively. Meanwhile, the steady PCF values under 5
mm are 0.15, 0.13, and 0.25, respectively. Thus, copper and
0.2 aluminum particles have greater adverse effects on the
performance of SF6 insulation than iron particles in the same
conditions. The findings of Masanori Hara and other studies
0.0 reveal that metal particles can significantly reduce the onset
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number
corona and breakdown voltage of a gap. Unfortunately, the
influence of different particle materials on breakdown voltage
remains unknown. Hence, this study attempts to analyze this
Figure 6. PCF of SF6 breakdown under the distances of 10 and 5 mm.
phenomenon through metallic catalysis and electronegativity.
Subsequently, the breakdown performance of SF6 is
investigated when the gap distance is 5 mm and the pressure is 4 THEORETICAL ANALYSIS AND
0.1 MPa. A distinction in different gap distances can be easily SIMULATION
achieved after comparing the gap distance of 10 mm with 5
mm, shown in Figures 5 and 6. 4.1 THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCES
Figures 5 and 6 show that the declining law of breakdown OF METAL PARTICLE TYPES ON THE TAKE-OFF
voltage under 5 mm is similar to that under 10 mm. VOLTAGE OF SF6
Concurrently, the steady PCF values of SF6 under copper, The beating of metal particles in the electrodes can seriously
aluminum, and iron particles are 0.15, 0.13, and 0.25, affect the uniform distribution of the original electric field, which
respectively, when the gap distance is 5 mm. By contrast, the makes the electric field distortion. Therefore, different types of
steady PCF values under 10 mm are 0.51, 0.54, and 0.63, particles take-off voltage difference appeared in the analysis
respectively, which are obviously higher than those under 5 experiment is of great significance for the study of SF6
mm. This phenomenon indicates that a shorter gap distance breakdown voltage differences.
generates a greater electric field distortion because of the free Under the condition of equal mass of each particle, copper and
metal particles. When the length of particles is close to the gap aluminum particles have similar take-off voltage and lower than
distance, particle size evidently influences the electric field that of iron particles. This indicates that under the same field
distribution. Moreover, under the same voltage, as the gap strength, the electric field force of iron particles is obviously
distance decreases, electric field strength increases. Hence, the smaller than that of copper and aluminum. According to F=Eq, it
take-off voltage of the particles under 5 mm is lower than that can be known that when the electric field is the same, the
under 10 mm. Existing studies have proven that the take-off difference of the electric field force is due to the different charge
voltage and gap distance of metal particles are positively q in the electric field, i.e., the induced charge q of the iron
correlated[9]. particles is less than that of the copper and aluminum particles.
Therefore, we studied the difference of induced charge from
3.3 SF6 BREAKDOWN PERFORMANCE OF
different types of metal particles through energy band theory and
POWER FREQUENCY UNDER VARIOUS METAL
the characteristics of electron distribution in different metal
PARTICLES
atoms.
This study adopts PCF to compare the breakdown
performance of SF6 with copper, aluminum and iron 1) In the absence of electric field, according to the fermi-dirac
particles when the gap distance is 5 and 10 mm, and the distribution in thermodynamic equilibrium state, as shown in the
pressure is 0.1 MPa, as shown in Tables 1 and 2. formula (1):
1
Table 1. SF6 PCF under the distance of 10 mm gE  (1)
 E  E f  / k BT
e 1
Number 0 1 3 5 7 9
where T is the temperature, kB is the Boltzmann constant, Ef is the
Cu 1 0.77 0.69 0.62 0.52 0.52 chemical potential. This function describes the probability g(E)
that the energy state of energy E is occupied by electrons under
Al 1 0.82 0.62 0.52 0.52 0.52
the condition of the thermal equilibrium. It is concluded that the
Fe 1 0.93 0.76 0.71 0.69 0.69 full band electrons will completely fill the states of the first
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 24, No. 4; August 2017
Brillouin zone (A', A) in the k space, as shown in Figure 7.
When there is an external electric field, all electrons will
move synchronously along the electric field in the opposite
direction, some electronic states removed from point A,
equivalent to move into the first Brillouin zone from A',
thus the electronic distribution does not change, the total
crystal current is zero.
Figure.7 The distribution of full band electrons in the k space.
Figure 8a shows the situation when the un-filled band
electrons are filled with no external electric field. The
electrons begin to fill from the lowest energy level in the
positive and negative k space, leading to the total current
zero. In the effect of external electric field, the electrons in
the k space will move in opposite direction of electric field,
as shown in Figure 8b and the electron distribution will not
be central symmetry. The carrying current from the
electrons in positive or negative k space will not be all
counteracted, the total current of energy band turns to be
not zero. The energy band theory can be used to determine
the conductivity of the crystal by investigating the status of
the electron filling energy bands situation.
(a) (b)
Figure 8. The distribution of partially occupied band electrons in the k
space.
2) Electron filling consistent with Pauli Exclusion
Principle and lowest energy principle. Extranuclear electron
configuration for copper is 1s22s22p63s23p63d104s1; for
aluminum, it is 1s22s22p63s23p1; for iron, it is
1s22s22p63s23p63d64s2. The electronic configuration may
reflect the metal valence electron number and status.
The principle of 1) and 2) used in the analysis of copper,
aluminum, iron three metal shows: Since the outermost
layer of copper atoms only have one valence electron,
which valence band (4s band) is only half filled, so the
outermost electron is very lively, similar to the alkali metal
has a strong electrical conductivity. The 3s2 of the
aluminum atom is full band, 3p1 is the un-filled band, and
the two band can overlap with larger degree, resulting in a
former band electrons can be easily transferred to a latter
one. Therefore, aluminum showed a certain metallicity, but
its conductivity was less than that of copper for its extra
2303
nuclear electron is bounded greater by nucleus. The valence band
of iron atom is full band (4s2), although the 3d and 4s band also
have some overlap, but 3d6 is unfilled band, inhibit the transition
of the outer electrons, making the electrical conductivity of the
weakest. Therefore, three kinds of metal producing free electrons
under the same electric field from easily to difficultly
respectively are: copper, aluminum, iron. Under the same electric
field, the more free electrons, the greater induced charge q.
Experiments show that the resistivity of copper, aluminum, iron
at 25 oC are respectively 1.7×10-8, 2.8×10-8, 10×10-8·m, this
also shows that the conductivity of copper is the best, the second
is the aluminum but the difference is not large and the
conductivity of iron is poor.
In summary, under the same electric field the induced charge q
of iron particles is less than that of copper and aluminum, and the
induced charge q of copper and aluminum is closer. Therefore,
the electric field force F of copper and aluminum particles are
close, and larger than that of iron particles, leading to their take-
off voltage close and below the iron particles eventually. Electric
field distortion occurs in the case of particles beating frequently,
reducing the insulation level of SF6.
4.2 SIMULATION ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCES OF
METAL PARTICLE TYPES ON THE INSULATING
PROPERTY OF SF6
Through computational method of quantum chemistry theory
was adopted to investigate the influences of metal particle types
on the insulating property of SF6. The results of quantum
chemistry computation can provide much valuable information
including molecular structure of reactant and product, structure
of intermediate and critical complex, the minimum energy path.
This study adopts the Dmol3 module, which is a part of the
Material Studios (MS) software, to calculate the reaction barrier
of SF6 under copper, aluminum and iron metal particles. The MS
software is developed by Accelrys Corporation. Dmol3 is a
quantum chemical module used to calculate density functional
theory (DFT). Dmol3 exploits the density function method on
atomic orbits to calculate molecular band structure. Calculus of
variations is then used to calculate wave function and energy.
Dmol3 can be used to predict structures and energy of molecules
and atoms, search and optimize transition states of reactions, and
reflect reaction paths by using graphs [13]. The S-F bond energy
when SF6 decomposes into SF5 and F is calculated by Dmol3, as
shown in Table 3
Table 3. Calculation of S-F bond energy.
No. Equation S-F Bond Energy(kJ/mol)
(2) SF6 SF5 +F 315.7
(3) 2SF6 +Cu 2SF5 +CuF2 247.4
(4) 3SF6 +Al 3SF5 +AlF3 235.3
(5) 3SF6 +Fe 3SF5 +FeF3 289.1
If any impurity does not exist in pure SF6, the insulation of SF6
has an excellent self-recovery ability, as shown in equation (1)
[14]. The S-F bond energy of SF6 is 315.7 kJ/mol based on
calculation, which is similar to 318.4 kJ/mol in literature [15].
2304 S. Xiao et al.: The Influence of Cu, Al and Fe Free Metal Particles on the Insulating Performance of SF6 in C-GIS
Belmadani has certified that metallic fluorides emerge
during arc discharge of SF6 [16]. Dervos has observed the
generation of CuF2 and AlF3 on the surface of copper and
aluminum particles in GIS by using an electron microscope
[17]. Belmadani has also presented the corresponding
reaction equations. Therefore, in accordance with the
reaction equations in the literature [16, 17], the present
study calculates the S-F bond energy under copper,
aluminum and iron particles when SF6 decomposes into SF5
and F. The reaction process is shown in Figure 9, and the
results are shown in equations (3)-(5).
(a) Before the reaction (b) After the reaction
Figure 9. SF6 reacts with a copper atom.
The result shows that the S-F bond energy for SF6 under
metal particles is obviously lower than the bond energy
without particles. In addition, the effects of copper and
aluminum particles on S-F bond energy are similar and
greater than those with iron particles. Consequently, SF6
molecules with excellent electronegativity decompose into
SF5 and F under the effect of lower electric field intensity. F
atoms then combine with metal atoms to produce metallic
fluorides, which makes the reaction balance move towards
SF6 decomposition. Hence, the number of SF6 molecules
with excellent insulation performance adjacent to metal
particles is reduced.
Based on the analysis of reaction barrier, this study
compares the electronegativity change of SF6 before and
after decomposition under the defect of free metal particles.
The Pauling electronegativity of SF6 and the SF6
decomposition SF5 are calculated according to DFT and
electronegativity equalization principle.
According to the precise expression of molecular
electronegativity via DFT [18], the following is obtained:
xa =Aa +2Ba qa +k ∑b≠a qb /Rab (6)
where subscripts a and b represent the atoms;
represents the effective electronegativity of atom a in a
molecule; is the charge of atom a; is the distance
between atoms a and b; and represent
electronegativity and hardness scale of atom a in a
molecule, respectively; and k is a coordination factor.
The electronegativity equilibrium equation is then
expressed as
xa =xb =…=x (7)
According to conversation of charge, the atomic charges
in molecules or free radicals are the total charge of this
system, and the constraint of charges is
∑a qa =Q (8)
where x and Q represent the electronegativity and total charges
in the system, respectively. The Pauling electronegativity of SF6
molecules is 6.63 based on the equations, whereas the Pauling
electronegativity of SF5 is only 2.91. True used gas phase X-ray
spectrometry to calculate the electronegativity of SF5 as 2.88
[19]. Kimura used the Langmuir probe technology to calculate
that the electronegativity of SF6 is between 5 and 10 [20]. The
results of the present study are similar to the results obtained by
these previous studies. Consequently, SF6 decomposition is a
decline of electronegativity, which reduces the ability to adsorb
electrons. The decline of electronegativity increases electron
density in SF6 and development rate of streamers, but throughout
time decreases. Finally, the breakdown voltage declines [21].
Simulation has verified that metal particles also reduce the
decomposition reaction barrier of SF6. Furthermore, copper and
aluminum particles have similar effects on reaction barrier,
which are obviously larger than that with iron particles. Finally,
SF6 molecules near metal particles decompose under a lower
voltage, which benefits the formation of streamers. Cooke has
demonstrated that breakdown voltages under copper and
aluminum particles in 0.1 MPa SF6 are similar [22].
5 CONCLUSIONS
Free metal particles can influence the insulating ability of SF6
in C-GIS seriously. With the number of particles increases, the
breakdown voltage of SF6 decreases from rapidly to slowly.
Free metal particles have obvious effects on the insulating
ability of SF6 in short gap. When the length of particles is close
to the gap distance, particle size can evidently influence the
electric field distribution.
With the same number of particles, the weakening effects to
the breakdown voltage of SF6 from copper particles and
aluminum particles are similar and more obvious than the effect
from iron particles.
Under the same electric field, the induced charge of iron
particles is less than those of copper and aluminum particles, and
the induced charges of copper and aluminum are closer.
Therefore, the electric field force F of copper and aluminum
particles are close, and larger than that of iron particles, leading
to their take-off voltages close and lower than that of iron
particles.
Free metal particles promotes the decomposition of SF6, which
weakens the electronegativity of SF6. Copper and aluminum
particles have more influences than iron particles on the reaction
barrier of SF6.
In summary, according to the study of theory and experiment,
the influence of copper and aluminum particles on the insulating
capacity of SF6 is greater than that of iron particles.
6 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The current work is supported by the Key Project of National
Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51537009) and
Project supported by Key Technology R&D Innovation Program
of Hubei Province (Grant No. 2014AAA015).
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 24, No. 4; August 2017
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Song Xiao was born in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei
Province, China, in 1988. He received the B.S. degree in
electrical engineering from Chongqing University,
Chongqing, China. He received the Ph.D. degree in
electrical engineering at Chongqing University,
Chongqing, China and the Ph.D. degree in plasma
engineering at Universit´e de Toulouse, Toulouse,
France. Dr. Xiao is a postdoctoral researcher in School
of Electric Engineering, Wuhan University. His research
interests include partial discharge online monitoring and
gas substituting SF6.
Xiaoxing Zhang was born in Qianjiang City, Hubei
Province, China, in 1972. He received the Bachelor and
Master degrees from Hubei Institute of Technology, and
Doctor degree from Chongqing University. Dr. Zhang is
a professor of School of Electric Engineering, Wuhan
University. He is involved in the online monitoring and
fault diagnosis of high voltage electrical insulation
equipment, the decomposition mechanism of insulating
gas SF6 and the new nano-sensor.