Experimental Study on the Compatibility of PD Flexible UHF Antenna Sensor Substrate with SF6/N2

The use of flexible, built-in, ultra-high-frequency (UHF) antenna sensors is an effective method to solve the weak high-frequency electromagnetic wave signal sensing of partial discharge (PD) inside gas-insulated switchgears (GISs), and the compatibility of flexible UHF antenna sensor substrate materials and SF6/N2 mixtures is the key to the realization of a flexible UHF antenna sensor inside a GIS. Based on this, this paper builds an experimental platform for the compatibility of a 30% SF6/70% N2 gas mixture and a PD flexible UHF antenna sensor substrate and conducts compatibility experiments between the 30% SF6/70% N2 gas mixture and PD flexible UHF antenna sensor substrate under different temperatures in combination with the actual operating temperature range of the GIS. In this article, a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, scanning electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer were used to test and analyze the gas composition, the surface morphology and the elemental change in the PD flexible UHF antenna sensor substrate, respectively. PET material will be slightly oxidized under the environment of a 30% SF6/70% N2 gas mixture at 110 °C, PI material will generate metal fluoride under the environment of a 30% SF6/70% N2 gas mixture and only PDMS material will remain stable under the environment of a 30% SF6/70% N2 gas mixture; therefore, it is appropriate to use PDMS substrate in the development of flexible UHF antenna sensors.