Dielectric Breakdown and Partial Discharge Properties of Nanocomposites for Epoxy/Mica Insulation system in Large-size Rotating Machines

Large-size rotating machine is a key power apparatus for the stability of electric power supply. However, aged machines are increasing and renewals of these machines are desired to avoid the risk of a sudden failure and to keep stable supply of electric power. In the renewal, efficiency improvement and power loss reduction are strongly required from the viewpoint of energy saving and global warming gas reduction. Improvement of insulating material is a promising solution for higher loss efficiency. With this background, we started R & D project with support by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan, which focused on developments of new insulating materials using nanocomposite technologies and its application to rotating machines. In this paper, concept of the project and some results obtained so far are presented.