A comparative study of natural ester based nanofluids with Fe2O3 and SiO2 nanoparticles

Properly treated Fe
₂
O
₃
and SiO
₂
nanoparticles were added to natural ester oil FR3™ in order to improve the dielectric properties of the oil. The experimental results reveal an increase of dielectric breakdown voltage of nanofluid in proportion to the concentration of Fe
₂
O
₃
nanoparticles. A threshold value exists beyond which, the dielectric breakdown voltage decreases rapidly with the increase of nanoparticles concentration. Nanofluid with Fe
₂
O
₃
seems to have better performance in comparison with SiO
₂
. Surface modification of Fe
₂
O
₃
nanoparticles was performed in order to avoid agglomeration.