Dielectric breakdown properties of CF3I-N2 mixtures containing a small amount of SF6

CF3I-N2 mixtures have garnered much attention as potential SF6-substitutes due to their excellent dielectric strengths, and the dielectric strength of SF6-N2 mixtures has a good synergy effect. This paper attempts to propose an approach of adding a small amount of SF6 to improve the dielectric strength of the CF3I-N2 mixture, by making an all-around consideration of dielectric strength, impact on the environment and the limitations of engineering pressure and the lowest ambient temperature. The influences of adding different amounts of SF6 on the electron energy distribution function, the reduced ionization, attachment and effective ionization coefficients, the critical reduced electric field strength and critical electron temperature of ternary SF6-CF3I-N2 mixtures are investigated by Boltzmann analysis. Then the relations of the critical electric fiend strength, mixed ratio and saturated vapor pressure of the ternary SF6-CF3I-N2 mixture are built and analyzed. The results demonstrate that an effective improvement of its dielectric strength can be obtained by adding a small amount of SF6 into the CF3I-N2 mixture, and that a proper choice of the mixed ratio and the gas pressure of the ternary SF6-CF3I-N2 mixture can provide a comparable dielectric strength to pure SF6.