1. CRAIG SCARLETT NOVEMBER 15, 2018
SF6 GAS MANAGEMENT
CRAIG SCARLETT
NOVEMBER 15, 2018

2. Why did we start worrying about SF6 loses?
Where did we start as a company with data gathering?
Early assumptions, activities, and procedures.
SF6 Emission Reporting, what we learned and decisions made.
Reporting years 2011 through 2015.
Data base creation, conversion and new software implementation.
Entering two years of data 2016 and 2017 simultaneously.
Where we are now and where we need to be going.

3. Environmental Reporting
Environmental Department notified the Substation Construction & Maintenance Department of upcoming changes to the EPA Reporting in
Bad news, we were going to have to report our SF6 equipment losses.
Good News! We had a grace period in 2011 to get ready for the actual reporting period in 2012.
Wait, how many pounds of SF6 equipment do we have on the system?
Are we really required to report? Do we hit the minimum pound limits?
Those were two good questions and we didn’t know the answer to either of them.

4. Data Gathering
What do we need, what do we have, and what do we have to do to get it?

5. SF6 GATHERING AND REDUCTION
How much gas do we have laying around?
What are we going to do with all of the excess gas and bottles?
What software system are we going to use to keep track of our SF6 losses?
How is the field going to feed data back to the office?
Way too much!
Gather it up and send it off site for recycling.
Polar Gas Tracker was chosen for software system.
Developed a sheet to give location, breaker number, and bottle weights before and after fill.

6. Early Experience and First Reporting
Equipment data gathering completed late 2010.
Polar data base built in 2010.
Field sheets created and used for 2011 gas fills and top offs.
September 2012 received first copy of SF6 work sheet.
What the $%^&#* is this?

7. Early Experience and First Reporting
The system wasn’t set up to answer the questions on this sheet.
What equipment was added through the year?
Hermetically sealed?
Hidden messages on the sheet.
Total emissions is counting much more than we first thought.

8. THE FIRST FIVE REPORTING YEARS
Working around the software limitations required keeping spread sheets throughout the year to fill in all of the blanks.
Polar was sold to Hudson then Hudson spun off the software as TrakRef.
Original software was being shut down, we were the last to migrate.
Tried to migrate to the new software, but the new software wasn’t really for SF6 tracking. They had never seen the SF6 report I was required to submit yearly.
Completed the 2016 report using multiple Excel spread sheets.
The Environmental Department wasn’t happy and said they wanted a controlled third party software reporting system. Please find a replacement quickly.
Spent 2017 looking for a replacement software system.
Discover a new software package is being developed by DILO for only SF6 gas entries.
DIRECT*TRACK SF6 MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

9. DILO & DIRECT*TRACK
Purchase Order for two years of cloud based data entry.
Attended DILO 2nd Annual SF6 Gas Management Seminar.
Met with DILO’s Billy Lao and Marc Suther with 365Programs.
Several hours of intense knowledge exchange, we had a game plan.
Spent December working on creating the new data base files for Direct Track.
Spent January testing the new program and learning.
Billy was creating the user manuals based on my questions.
Marc was fixing the program as I found its limits and correcting data that I entered incorrectly.

11. 2016 & 2017 REPORTS COMPLETED
The SF6 Emission Report closely matches the environmental work sheet provided by the EPA.
Additional SF6 Emission Reports for MASS DEP Report and CARB Report.
Overall Report
Leakers Report
User Tracking

12. WHY KEEP TRACK OF EVERY FILL?
Every new piece of equipment is entered into the system upon installation and SF6 gas lifetime usage tracked.
Early SF6 leak detection can be identified and repaired under warranty. Thereby saving Maintenance Budget dollars to repair.
High repetition leakers can be isolated on a year end report.
High volume leakers can be identified for Capital Budget project replacement.
If the environmental report is audited, the high accuracy/detail reporting will work to prove that no under estimating has occurred.
If the 1% of nameplate leak rule is implemented, then it will be very easy to target the worst equipment first.
Individual leak entries can also be used to identify specific Manufacturer’s products that are habitual leakers.

13. TIPS AND TRICKS FOR DATA ENTRY
Enter new equipment using the smallest vessel size possible. This may require multiple vessels per breaker, (i.e. R1-2A, R1-2B, R1-3C). This will cut a 402lb overall SF6 breaker down to three poles of 134lbs each.
Verify that older equipment doesn’t include the breaker poles and CT’s together.
Enter all substations into the system even if they don’t currently have SF6 equipment. Easier for the system administrator to enter all at one time.
Make sure that your companies language and DILO’s are compatible.
If you suspect that the original nameplate was incorrect, you might want to get DILO involved to get a nameplate correction certificate.

14. SF6 STORAGE AND TRACKING
Don’t purchase SF6 gas with the equipment, procure your own locally.
Put a tag or sticker on the cylinder neck that can be seen from a distance and write on the bottle with a sharpie just in case the sticker comes off.
Use one or more heater blankets to get the most out of a cylinder.
Have a discussion with the crews that are only using the tops of the cylinders to stop that practice.
Keep the cylinders in a one centralized location if possible. Don’t chase more cylinders than you need to, it’s just more work for you the administrator.
Send wet gas, used gas, SO2 gas, or cylinders with small amounts out to be cleaned and consolidated at least yearly.
Consider using reconditioned gas instead of virgin.

16. QUESTIONS? CRAIG SCARLETT PRINCIPAL ENGINEER EVERGY-EAST (KCPL)
SUBSTATION CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT
KANSAS CITY, MO 64120
PHONE:
OFFICE
CELL

17. QUESTIONS?