Solvay‘s sulphur hexafluoride is a nontoxic, inert, insulating and cooling gas of high dielectric strength and thermal stability.
It is particularly suitable for application in both high-voltage and medium-high voltage power circuit breakers as well as in high-voltage cables, transformers, transducers, particle and electron accelerators, X-ray equipment and UHF transmission systems and as an etching and chamber cleaning gas in the semiconductor industry.
The construction of new equipment with higher capacity and improved performance has been made possible by the excellent electrical, thermal and chemical
properties of SF6. Changing from conventional dielectrics to sulphur hexafluoride – a non-flammable, chemically-inactive and non-toxic heavy gas – results in considerable space and weight savings and improvements in the operational safety of converted equipment.
SF6 is also used in medical technology: for example as a contrast agent in ultrasonic examinations as well as in ophthalmology, pneumonectomy and diseases of the middle ear, e.g. treating loss of hearing in middle ear infections.
