Behaviour of alternative insulating liquids at cold temperatures

In times when personal safety and the security of electrical power supply become more and more important, the usage of alternative insulation fluids is demanded in large power transformers. The minimizing of fire loads is another significant reason for new liquids. Different companies are offering such alternative insulation liquids which are already used in distribution transformers. On the other hand there is little experience with those fluids in large power transformers. For the confirmation of the usability of new insulating liquids comparison methods must be tested to find the differences between the alternative insulating fluids and commonly used mineral oil. There are different methods for characterising insulating materials, like AC-Breakdown tests, partial discharge tests, lightning and switching impulse voltage tests, etcetera. Also the electrical behaviour of alternative insulation liquids at low temperatures is very important. This paper shows the results of investigations with alternative fluids at low temperatures.