Electrical breakdown voltage of transformer oil with gas bubbles

Abstract

Electrical breakdown strength of liquid-gas micro bubble mixtures of transformer oil with sulfur hexafluoride and air for the case of quasi homogeneous gas inclusions distribution and 10% volumetric gas content was experimentally investigated. DC voltage up to 140 kV was applied to a 8 mm gap between hemispherical electrodes. It is shown that transformer oil bubbled with air leads to threshold breakdown voltage decrease by 34% and 19% when bubbled with sulfur hexafluoride. The stabilization effect of sulfur hexafluoride micro bubbles on the value of threshold breakdown voltage is observed.