Investigation of critical parameters of insulating mineral oil using semiconductive nanoparticles

This work investigates the effect of semiconductive nanoparticles on electrical and physical properties of insulating mineral oil (Transformer oil). Nanoparticles of TiO2, SiO2 and ZnO were separately added into the transformer oil with particle volume fractions of 0.01% and 0.075% to form Nanofluids (NFs), with an aim of enhancing critical properties of the oil. The critical properties like Breakdown voltage (BDV), Flash point, Fire Point and Viscosity were measured at room temperature according to ASTM and IEC standards. It was found that the breakdown voltage of the transformer oil has improved after the addition of nanoparticles with increase in particle volume fractions. Meanwhile, the flash point retains the same value, the fire point has shown an increase from 5°C to 10°C and the viscosity doesn't have any dramatic change after the addition of nanoparticles.