DIN EN IEC 62271-4:2024-06

This part of IEC 62271 applies to the procedures for handling of gases and gas mixtures for interruption and insulation during installation, commissioning, normal and abnormal operations, disposal at the end-of-life of high-voltage switchgear and controlgear. These procedures are regarded as minimum requirements to ensure the safety of personnel working with these gases and gas mixtures and to minimize the impact on the environment. Additional requirements may be specified or defined in the manufacturer's operating manual. For each gas known to be used in high-voltage equipment at the time of publication of this document, there is a separate annex with specifications, handling methods, safety measures, and so on. For gases not covered in these annexes, the manufacturer of the high-voltage equipment should provide the necessary information, following the structure of these annexes. These gases should also be described in a subsequent edition or amendment to this edition. For the purposes of this document, the term "high voltage" is defined as a rated voltage above 1 000 V. However, the term "medium voltage" (MV) is often used for distribution systems with voltages above 1 kV and generally up to and including 52 kV. In this document the term "pressure" always refers to absolute pressure. Unless otherwise specified, percentages of gaseous components, impurities, and decomposition products in this document are based on volume and measured at 20 °C. Reference is also made to CIGRE Brochure 802(2020) "Application of non-SF6 gases or gas mixtures in medium and high voltage gas-insulated switchgear. CIGRE WG B3.45." For further details on gases, for example their ecotoxicology, reference is also made to the chemical database of the European Chemicals Agency ECHA (www.echa.europa.eu), which takes the actual quantity range into account. If provisions apply to gases used for insulation and/or switching, their designation and the source of the provisions can be found in the IEC 62474 database (available at https://std.iec.ch/ iec62474 "Material declaration for products of and for the electrotechnical industry"). When reference is made to circuit breakers, only gas circuit breakers are relevant. If vacuum circuit breakers are relevant, they are explicitly specified. The standard differs from DIN EN 62271-4 (VDE 0671-4):2014-06 as follows: a) the title has been changed; b) handling methods for alternatives to SF6 used for insulation and/or switching have been added; c) the main clauses are independent of the type of gas; d) gas-specific information, handling methods, safety measures, etcetera are described in a separate annex for each gas; e) the information on SF6 (former Annex E) and the environmental impact of SF6 and its mixtures (former Annex F) has been moved to IEC 60376; f) the information on decomposition products of SF6 and its mixtures (former Annex G), on the procedure for assessing the possible effects of the decomposition products of SF6 and its mixtures on health (former Annex H), and on the cryogenic treatment of SF6 (former Annex I) has been moved to IEC 60480.