While you use a low-voltage circuit breaker to switch power on and off in your domestic network, electrical utilities use high-voltage circuit breakers. Live tank circuit breakers run along the electrical grid to power cities from high-voltage substations. For more than half a century, SF6 gas has been in used in high-voltage switchgear to cut the current and redirect the power flow more effectively. The drawback is that SF6 has a very high global warming potential, and it remains in the atmosphere for roughly 1,000 years.

That’s why our project tackles the development of a new live tank circuit breaker at 245 kilovolts (kV) and 420 kV that will interrupt the power flow using a gaseous mixture as an alternative to SF6. The objective is to propose a technically and economically viable solution with a 63% reduction in emissions of CO2 equivalent.