Dielectric Recovery and Insulating Properties of Coconut Oil and Transformer Oil

Abstract

AbstractThis paper reports the results of experiments conducted to check the feasibility of the use of commercially available untreated coconut oil as a dielectric. More specifically, the feasibility is studied for commercially available coconut oil. The standards prescribed for dielectric breakdown tests by IEEE are used. The work involves sample preparation, breakdown voltage testing, and rate of recovery of breakdown strength which is a special property that is less studied. The results indicate that commercially available coconut oil that is extracted from dry coconut in the Indian sub-continent can also be safely used as a liquid dielectric. The results indicate that the measured breakdown voltages are steady in case of conventional mineral transformer oil, and the breakdown voltages are relatively lower in the case of coconut oil. The breakdown voltage initially improved in case of coconut oil and stabilized after a certain level whereas mineral oil displayed a steady improvement and high dielectric recovery rate. The study shows that commercially available untreated coconut oil which is biodegradable can be used as dielectric. However, the mineral transformer oil scores high in terms of dielectric recovery.KeywordsInsulating liquidsCoconut oilTransformer mineral oilDielectric recoveryBreakdown strength