SF6 treatment instead of SF6 disposal
SF6 recycling protects our climate
SF6 gas was seen as the perfect gas for a variety of uses for a long time. Since it is non-toxic, not flammable, chemically very stable and displaces oxygen because it is an inert gas, it was used a lot in every day articles such as sneakers. Nike used hundreds of tons SF6 gas during the nineties to fill their Nike Air shoes.
The big disadvantage of SF6 gas was only discovered when the awareness for our climate came into focus – SF6 gas is the most harmful gas there is regarding the climate. It is about 24.300 times as harmful for our climate as CO2. This means, that one kilogram SF6 gas escaping into the atmosphere harms the climate as much as 24,3 tons of CO2. This means, just one kilogram of SF6 escaping to the atmosphere has the same effect on our climate as the CO2 emission of 2-3 German citizens per year. Since climate protection is top priority when handling SF6 gas, it is extremely important for our climate to catch, store and treat even the smallest amounts of SF6 gas in a controlled matter.
This is why there were various regulations put in place to restrict the use of SF6 gas strongly and regulate it’s handling. The best solution for our climate would be stopping the use of SF6 gas entirely. There are various technical applications though, especially in power distribution, where there are little to no viable alternatives, because the alternatives have other disadvantages. There are about 450.000 tons of SF6 gas installed solely in high- and middle voltage worldwide. And since the need for electricity grows massively amongst the population, the demand for SF6 gas does too. A sensible alternative which, unlike the produktion of new SF6 gas, would preserve our climate, is the treatment of used SF6 gas. This way the energy needed to destroy used gas at high temperatures is preserved. There are also big amounts of emissions saved, that occur through leaks in partially very old SF6 production plants. We believe in SF6 treatment instead of SF6 disposal or production of new gas.
