Performance Analysis of Blended Neem and Olive Oil as Alternate Liquid Insulation for Power Transformers

Abstract

The transformer is a critical part of the power system. The liquid insulation used in transformers should have improved thermal and dielectric properties, widespread availability, longer life, and lower cost. Despite the fact that transformers have long employed petroleum based insulating oils, recent environmental concerns, health and safety issues and many technical factors have boosted the demand for novel alternative and biodegradable liquids. This work focuses on using natural esters to replace traditional mineral oil to operate transformers efficiently. Two natural esters, neem oil and olive oil have been blended in various ratios to examine how well they work as liquid dielectrics with power transformers. With the blended samples, the critical parameters including moisture content and resistivity, capacitance, dielectric constant, dissipation factor, viscosity at various temperatures are measured according to IEC and ASTM standards. The results were statistically analyzed and shown to conform fitted line plot and residual plot analysis. From the investigations, it is found that the blended natural ester samples exhibit characteristics that are closer to those of liquid insulation standards used in power transformers and have the potential to supersede conventional mineral oil as an alternative liquid insulation.