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Transformer Oil & Its Evolution

The document summarizes the evolution of transformer oils used in electrical transformers. It discusses the main types of oils including mineral oils like naphthenic and paraffinic oils as well as synthetic oils. It also outlines alternatives to mineral oils like natural esters that have advantages like being less toxic and more biodegradable. The document concludes by describing some key tests used to evaluate the quality of transformer oils.

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Shrikanth Sola
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443 views7 pages

Transformer Oil & Its Evolution

The document summarizes the evolution of transformer oils used in electrical transformers. It discusses the main types of oils including mineral oils like naphthenic and paraffinic oils as well as synthetic oils. It also outlines alternatives to mineral oils like natural esters that have advantages like being less toxic and more biodegradable. The document concludes by describing some key tests used to evaluate the quality of transformer oils.

Uploaded by

Shrikanth Sola
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as RTF, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Transformer Oil & its Evolution

The article gives a glimpse of types of transformer oils and its tests. - S Prabhakar
Karthikeyan, Sarvesh Rathi, Narala Anudeep Reddy    
July 5, 2019

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Transformer Oil & its Evolution


Transformer oil is a mineral insulating or cooling oil derived from crude
petroleum. It is a mixture of various hydrocarbons consist partly aliphatic
compounds (open chain compounds) with the general formula – CnH2n+2 and
CnH2n.

Types of Oils Used

Mineral oil and Synthetic oil are the majorly used transformer oil.

Mineral Oils
These are the petroleum products, like Naphthenic based transformer oil and
Paraffinic based transformer oil. Naphthenic based transformer oils are
known for their heat distribution, which is one of the main problems with
transformer. This also has a good flowing feature under low temperature and
it is wax-free. These type of oils are better for low-temperature. Even though
it oxidises easier, the product formed by this process (i.e sludge) is soluble.
Hence, it won’t obstruct the cooling system of the transformer.

Paraffinic based transformer oil is obtained from paraffinic crude oil using
solvent separation methods. This is known for its good thermal and oxidation
durability and good high temperature viscosity feature. Because of its high
viscosity index due to the presence of wax, though the oxidation rate is lower
than the naphthenic oils, the precipitant or the sludge is formed due to the
oxidation. This might become an obstruction for the heat dissipation. Since
the rate of oxidation is low, cost effectiveness and availability, this oil is
widely used in India.

Synthetic Oils

Synthetic oils which are generally silicone based were popular in the middle
of 70s. This is generally used in the fire-prone area because of its fire-
retardant properties. It also has few problems of low heat dissipation and
high moisture absorbing capacity. It is also costlier than mineral oil.

Figure 1
Transition from Conventional Oils

Petroleum based oils are actually very effective as a transformer oil.


However, due to high flammability, a small leakage can easily catch fire. This
is one of the reasons why synthetic oils are used in fire-prone areas. And
also the fire codes require these transformers to be non-flammable or a dry
type transformer, if they happened to use it inside the residential buildings.

Mineral oil is hazardous directly for human and the environment. This is
mostly available as the by-product of refining crude oil to make gasoline and
other petroleum products. This mainly consists of alkanes and cycloalkanes.
And its poor biodegradability makes it a potential long term pollution for the
environment. And also these are classified under carcinogenic substance by
the World Health Organization.
Figu
re 2: Use of Nanoparticles
Alternative to Mineral Oil

There are few alternatives to these mineral oils. Some of them are
Pentaerythritol tetra fatty acid, natural and synthetic esters.

Some of the advantages when compared to mineral oil are:

 Low volatility
 High fire point, so that it can be used in high-fire-risk places
 Lower pour point
 Greater moisture tolerance
 Improved function at high temperatures
 Non-toxic
 Bio-degradable.
Silicone based oils are even less flammable but they are not only expensive
than esters but also less bio-degradable. Researches are going on in the
usage of vegetable based oils like coconut oil. But it is found as unsuitable
for the cold climatic condition and also for voltages over 230kV. From the
figure 1, one can also say that the dissipation factor is reducing over the
period of time which is not as usual as in the case of other transformer oils.

Use of Nanoparticles

In most of the applications, nano-technology is the ultimate answer for its


sensitivity. There had been some literatures on nanoparticles of titanium
oxides and iron oxides in transformer oil applications. The maximum
enhancement of BDV has been observed by using these particles which is
achieved by adding different type of oxides into the promising ester fluids to
make it even better than before by which the efficiency can be increased.
Many oils contain certain aromatic compounds (closed chain or ring
compounds) related to benzene, naphthalene and derivatives of these with
aliphatic chains. Good transformer oil must insulate and prevent flash over
on the exposed parts within the equipment and it must effectively transform
the heat from the core to the radiating surface. The transformer oil with high
dielectric strength is always considered for application in which it is used.

Transformer Oil Tests

The following tests are performed to determine the quality  of transformer


oil:

 Dielectric Strength
 Moisture
 Acidity
 Interfacial Tension
 Dielectric Dissipation Factor Test for Corrosive Sulphur in Oil
 Test for Oxidation Stability
 Specific Resistance (Resistivity)
 Flash Point
 Pour Point
 Viscosity
 Sludge Test
 Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA).
Figure 3: Dielectric Strength Test
Dielectric Strength Test

An increasing AC voltage of rated frequency is applied to the electrodes


which are immersed in the testing oil (with the gap of 2.5 mm),
approximately at the rate of 2 kV/Sec, starting from zero up to the value
which produces breakdown. The test kit will have provision for automatic
switching off of the supply voltage within 0.02 second. The test shall be
repeated six times on the same cell filling and the arithmetic mean of the
results is noted as the electric strength or BDV (Break Down Voltage) of the
oil under test. The test shall be conducted in a dry place free from dust and
voltage applied every time after disappearance of any air bubbles. The time
intervals shall be five minutes, if the disappearance of air bubble cannot be
observed.
Figure 4:
Transformer Oil Treatment
Transformer Oil Treatment

Solid materials and water molecules are removed from the transformer oil
using centrifugal separators. Apart from the above process, de-aeration,
filtration and dehydration are also carried out to enhance the quality of the
transformer oil. In small transformers, purification of oil is done directly by
removing the oil and cleaning the equipment. Once cleaning is completed, oil
is transferred using filter plants. For large transformers, without removing
the oil, it is made to circulate through the purifier. This process is done
without energising the transformer.

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