Vegetable Oil is an Alternative Fluid to Mineral Oil Used in High Voltage Application: An Experimental Study

Abstract

Most of the high voltage power equipments are filled with dielectric fluid (mineral oil) with a primary function to provide electrical insulation, arc quenching medium and served as a coolant. It is studied that, huge quantity of mineral oil is used for many decades in the power sector for the above purpose. Some of the certain point raised in recent research which is the major concern like biodegradability, low flash point and availability of resources in the future. To overcome the difficulties an alternative dielectric fluids (vegetable oil) are taken into consideration for replacement of mineral oil in the distribution power equipment. The Ultraviolet visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy method has been used and has advantages over the conventional dissolve gas analysis (DGA) technique. However, their performance in the high voltage power transformer is yet to be established and required comprehensive analysis.