The investigation of propylene carbonate based nanofluids as an energy storage medium for pulsed power sources

Abstract

Propylene carbonate (PC) based nano-fluids containing only 2 ppm TiO 2 nano-particles exhibit more than 60% higher impulse breakdown voltage than that of base liquid. It is found that the resistance of the test gap containing nano-fluids increases by double when subjected to high amplitude voltage before the development of electrical breakdown, greatly differing from the invariable resistance in the pure PC case. Besides, compared with pure PC, the streamers in nano-fluids are more complex branched. It implies that the charge carriers in nano-fluids can be effectively captured and scattered by nanoparticles, which is verified by means of thermally stimulated current method. Moreover, the liquid energy band theory and the electro-mechanical force model are employed to explain the electrical process. Based on these experimental results and the theoretical analysis mentioned above, a nano-fluids dielectric coaxial pulse forming line system is developed, and its maximum energy storage density increases to more than 2.5 times higher than that of PC with better operation stabilities. These efforts set a good foundation for the development of a compact pulsed power generator with a new kind of high energy storage medium, and the results show an appealing application of PC based nano-fluids for the future.