India Unveils First Supercritical CO2 Circuit Breaker

### Speedy Summary
– Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a groundbreaking high-voltage circuit breaker utilizing supercritical carbon dioxide (CO₂) rather of the commonly used and environmentally harmful sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆).
– SF₆ is a potent greenhouse gas, with 25,000 times the warming potential of CO₂, and its byproducts are toxic to humans.
– Unlike customary mechanical interrupters that rely on SF₆, the prototype utilizes supercritical CO₂, which functions as an arc quencher under high pressure and temperature-a less environmentally damaging option.
– The team had to design custom components like bushings to withstand supercritical CO.