EN IEC 60480:2019

Specifications for the re-use of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and its mixtures in electrical equipment

This document provides criteria for the re-use of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and its mixtures after recovery and reclaiming from electrical equipment (e.g. for maintenance, at the end-oflife). Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), nitrogen (N2) and carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), are gases commonly used for electrical equipment. Taking into account environmental concerns, particular attention is paid to re-use criteria for SF6 and its mixtures with N2 and CF4 for its use in electrical equipment. Procedures for recovering and reclaiming used SF6 and its mixtures are outside the scope of this document and are described in IEC 62271-4. This document provides several annexes on the description of the different methods of analysis, on by-products, on the procedure for evaluating the potential health effects from byproducts, on cryogenic reclaiming of SF6, and on reclaiming recommendations. Storage, transportation and disposal of SF6 and its mixtures are outside the scope of this document and are covered by IEC 62271-4. Procedures to determine SF6 leakages are described in IEC 60068-2-17 [4]1. For the purposes of this document, the complementary gases used in SF6 mixtures will be limited to N2 or CF4.

Spezifikationen für die Wiederverwendung von Schwefelhexafluorid (SF6) und seinen Mischungen in elektrischen Betriebsmitteln

Spécifications pour la réutilisation de l’hexafluorure de soufre (SF6) et des mélanges contenant du SF6 dans le matériel électrique

Le présent document spécifie des critères de réutilisation de l’hexafluorure de soufre (SF6) et des mélanges contenant du SF6 après reprise et régénération depuis le matériel électrique(par exemple, pour la maintenance ou en fin de vie). L’hexafluorure de soufre (SF6), l’azote (N2) et le tétrafluorure de carbone (CF4) sont des gaz communément utilisés pour le matériel électrique. Une attention particulière est accordée aux critères de réutilisation du SF6 et de ses mélanges avec N2 et CF4 pour leur utilisation dans le matériel électrique, afin de prendre en compte les aspects d’environnement. Les procédures de reprise et de régénération du SF6 usagé et des mélanges contenant du SF6 usagé ne relèvent pas du domaine d’application du présent document. Elles sont décrites dans l’IEC 62271-4. Le présent document comprend plusieurs annexes qui décrivent les différentes méthodes d’analyse, traitent des sous-produits, de la procédure d’évaluation des effets potentiels des sous-produits sur la santé, de la régénération cryogénique du SF6 et donnent des recommandations relatives à la régénération. Les procédures de stockage, de transport et d’élimination du SF6 et des mélanges contenant du SF6 ne relèvent pas du domaine d’application du présent document. Elles sont décrites dans l’IEC 62271-4. Les procédures de détermination des fuites de SF6 sont décrites dans l’IEC 60068-2-17 [4]1. Pour les besoins du présent document, les gaz complémentaires utilisés dans les mélanges du SF6 sont limités à l’azote (N2) ou au tétrafluorure de carbone (CF4).

Specifikacija za ponovno uporabo žveplovega heksafluorida(SF6) in njegovih mešanic v električni opremi

Ta dokument vsebuje merila za ponovno uporabo žveplovega heksafluorida (SF6) in njegovih mešanic po predelavi in ponovnem pridobivanju iz električne opreme (npr. za vzdrževanje, ob koncu življenjske dobe). Žveplov heksafluorid (SF6), dušik (N2) in ogljikov tetrafluorid (CF4) so plini, ki se običajno uporabljajo za električno opremo. Ob upoštevanju okoljskih vprašanj je posebna pozornost namenjena kriterijem ponovne uporabe SF6 in njegovih mešanic z N2 in CF4 za njegovo uporabo v električni opremi. Postopki za predelavo in ponovno pridobivanje uporabljenega SF6 in njegovih mešanic ne spadajo na področje uporabe tega dokumenta in so opisani v standardu IEC 62271-4.
Ta dokument vsebuje več dodatkov o opisu različnih metod analize, stranskih proizvodih, postopku ocenjevanja možnih vplivov na zdravje iz stranskih proizvodov, kriogenem ponovnem pridobivanju SF6 in priporočilih za ponovno pridobivanje.
Shranjevanje, prevoz in odstranjevanje SF6 ter njegovih mešanic ne spadajo na področje uporabe tega dokumenta in so opisani v standardu IEC 62271-4. Postopki za določanje puščanja SF6 so opisani v standardu IEC 60068-2-17 [4]1.
V tem dokumentu so plini, uporabljeni v mešanicah SF6, omejeni na N2 ali CF4.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 23-May-2019
• Withdrawal Date: 08-May-2022
• ICS: 29.040.20 - Insulating gases
• ICS: 29.130 - Switchgear and controlgear
• ICS: 29.130.01 - Switchgear and controlgear in general
• Technical Committee: CLC/SR 10 - Fluids for electrotechnical applications
• Drafting Committee: IEC/TC 10 - IEC_TC_10
• Current Stage: 6060 - Document made available - Publishing
• Start Date: 24-May-2019
• Completion Date: 24-May-2019
• Ref Project: SIST EN IEC 60480:2019 - Specification for re-use of SF6 and its mixtures in electrical equipment

Relations

• Replaces: EN 60480:2004 - Guidelines for the checking and treatment of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) taken from electrical equipment and specification for its re-use
• Effective Date: 28-May-2019

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-september-2019
Nadomešča:
SIST EN 60480:2005
Specifikacija za ponovno uporabo žveplovega heksafluorida(SF6) in njegovih
mešanic v električni opremi
Specification for re-use of SF6 and its mixtures in electrical equipment
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN IEC 60480:2019
ICS:
29.040.20 Izolacijski plini Insulating gases
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EUROPEAN STANDARD EN IEC 60480

NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
May 2019
ICS 29.130.01; 29.040.20 Supersedes EN 60480:2004
English Version
Specifications for the re-use of sulphur hexafluoride (SF ) and its
mixtures in electrical equipment
(IEC 60480:2019)
Spécifications pour la réutilisation de l'hexafluorure de Spezifikationen für die Wiederverwendung von
soufre (SF ) et des mélanges contenant du SF dans le Schwefelhexafluorid (SF ) und seinen Mischungen in
6 6 6
matériel électrique elektrischen Betriebsmitteln
(IEC 60480:2019) (IEC 60480:2019)
This European Standard was approved by CENELEC on 2019-05-09. CENELEC members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC
Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.
Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre or to any CENELEC member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation
under the responsibility of a CENELEC member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the
same status as the official versions.
CENELEC members are the national electrotechnical committees of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique
Europäisches Komitee für Elektrotechnische Normung
CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2019 CENELEC All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for CENELEC Members.
Ref. No. EN IEC 60480:2019 E
European foreword
The text of document 10/1075/FDIS, future edition 3 of IEC 60480, prepared by IEC/TC 10 "Fluids for
electrotechnical applications" was submitted to the IEC-CENELEC parallel vote and approved by
CENELEC as EN IEC 60480:2019.
The following dates are fixed:
• latest date by which the document has to be implemented at national (dop) 2020-02-09
level by publication of an identical national standard or by endorsement
• latest date by which the national standards conflicting with the (dow) 2022-05-09
document have to be withdrawn
This document supersedes EN 60480:2004.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CENELEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Endorsement notice
The text of the International Standard IEC 60480:2019 was approved by CENELEC as a European
Standard without any modification.

In the official version, for Bibliography, the following notes have to be added for the standards
indicated:
IEC 60079-29-2 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60079-29-2
IEC 62271-203 NOTE Harmonized as EN 62271-203
IEC 60376 NOTE Harmonized as EN IEC 60376
IEC 60068-2-17 NOTE Harmonized as EN 60068-2-17

Annex ZA
(normative)
Normative references to international publications
with their corresponding European publications
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments)
applies.
NOTE 1  Where an International Publication has been modified by common modifications, indicated by (mod), the relevant
EN/HD applies.
NOTE 2  Up-to-date information on the latest versions of the European Standards listed in this annex is available here:
www.cenelec.eu.
Publication Year Title EN/HD Year
IEC 60050-192 -  International electrotechnical vocabulary - Part 192: - -
Dependability
IEC 60050-212 -  International Electrotechnical Vocabulary - Part 212: - -
Electrical insulating solids, liquids and gases
IEC 60050-441 -  International Electrotechnical Vocabulary. - -
Switchgear, controlgear and fuses
IEC 60050-826 -  International Electrotechnical Vocabulary - Part 826: - -
Electrical installations
IEC 62271-4 2013 High-voltage switchgear and controlgear - Part 4: EN 62271-4 2013
Handling procedures for sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)
and its mixtures
IEC 60480 ®
Edition 3.0 2019-04
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside
Specifications for the re-use of sulphur hexafluoride (SF ) and its mixtures
in electrical equipment
Spécifications pour la réutilisation de l’hexafluorure de soufre (SF )
et des mélanges contenant du SF dans le matériel électrique
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 29.040.20; 29.130.01 ISBN 978-2-8322-6697-7

– 2 – IEC 60480:2019 © IEC 2019
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 5
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms and definitions . 8
4 Contaminants and their sources . 9
4.1 General . 9
4.2 Contaminants from handling and use . 9
4.3 SF by-products in equipment that only have an insulating function . 9
4.4 SF by-products in switching equipment . 10
4.5 SF by-products from internal arcs . 10
4.6 SF mixtures specific by-products . 10
5 Specifications for re-use of SF . 10
6 Specifications for re-use of SF mixtures . 11
7 Reclaiming of SF and SF mixtures . 11
6 6
7.1 Feasibility and process . 11
7.2 Detection techniques for checking the quality of the gases. 14
7.2.1 General . 14
7.2.2 On-site analysis . 14
7.2.3 Laboratory analysis . 15
8 Handling, storage and transportation (informative) . 16
9 Safety and first aid . 16
9.1 General safety rules . 16
9.1.1 General . 16
9.1.2 Protection of personnel . 17
9.1.3 Handling of contaminated safety equipment and tools . 18
9.1.4 Pressurized equipment and tools or measuring devices . 19
9.1.5 Personal safety and protective equipment . 19
9.1.6 Facilities and services . 20
9.2 Additional safety measures in case of abnormal release of SF due to
external fire or internal arc fault . 20
9.3 First aid equipment and treatment . 21
9.3.1 General . 21
9.3.2 Irritation of the skin . 21
9.3.3 Irritation of the eyes . 22
9.3.4 Breathing difficulty . 22
10 Environmental aspects . 22
Annex A (informative) Description of methods of analysis (on-site and laboratory) . 23
A.1 Sampling. 23
A.1.1 General . 23
A.1.2 On-site sampling connection . 23
A.1.3 Sample cylinder for laboratory analysis . 23
A.1.4 Sampling methods for laboratory analysis . 24
A.2 On-site analysis . 25
A.2.1 General . 25
A.2.2 SF concentration meter . 25
IEC 60480:2019 © IEC 2019 – 3 –
A.2.3 Hygrometers . 25
A.3 Laboratory analysis . 26
A.3.1 Gas chromatography . 26
A.3.2 Infrared spectroscopy . 28
Annex B (informative) By-products of SF6 and its mixtures . 31
B.1 Decomposition of SF and its mixtures . 31
B.1.1 General . 31
B.1.2 Behaviour of SF in an electric arc . 31
B.1.3 SF6 decomposition with low current discharges . 33
B.1.4 Catalytic decomposition of SF (high-temperature behaviour) . 33
B.2 Corrosion behaviour of SF and its by-products . 33
B.3 Measures for the removal of by-products . 33
B.4 Physiological characteristics of by-products . 34
Annex C (informative) Procedures for evaluating the potential effects on health from
by-products of SF and its mixtures . 35
C.1 General . 35
C.2 Formation and health effects of SF by-products . 35
C.2.1 Formation of SF by-products . 35
C.2.2 Effects of SF by-products on health . 36
C.2.3 Quantitative estimation of gaseous by-products . 37
C.2.4 Procedures for health risk evaluation . 38
C.3 Conclusion . 40
Annex D (informative) Reclaiming recommendations . 42
D.1 General .
...