Comparison of SF6 decomposition characteristics under negative DC partial discharge initiated by two kinds of insulation defects

To investigate the difference between the sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) decomposition characteristics initiated by two sorts of insulation defects — free metal particles and metal protrusion defects — under negative DC partial discharge (PD), SF6 decomposition data was obtained under different DC voltages on the basis of constructing a SF6 decomposition experimental platform. The differences between the characteristic components and the characteristic ratios of the two defects at the same discharge quantity and voltage were systematically analyzed. Results show that the two defects have significant differences in the type of decomposition components, the yield sizes of the components, and the changes in the component ratios. This paper proposed c(CF4 + CS2)/c(CO2) and c(CF4)/c(SO2F2) as the characteristic ratios to characterize the fault severity of the two defects, and their physical nature were revealed. The combination of the above ratios with the existing c(SO2F2)/c(SOF2 + SO2) can construct a feature quantity for identifying the two defects.