Research Projects

Mineral oil is commonly used as an insulating oil in distribution and power transformers due to its excellent electrical, chemical, and thermal properties. However, due to concerns about recycling and environmental protection, vegetable oil-based insulating fluids are being researched as alternatives. Studies have shown that vegetable oils have comparable electrical properties to mineral oil. Recently, a new trend has started in preparing and testing vegetable oil-based nanofluids, which have gained attention due to their electrical properties such as increased dielectric strength, high resistance to discharges, low permittivity, and dielectric loss. In India, there is no conclusive study on the effect of different shapes and sizes of nanoparticles on the dielectric performance of transformer oils. This project proposal proposes a vegetable oil-based nanofluid blend as an insulating oil whose dielectric and physio-thermal properties can be enhanced based on the different shapes and sizes of nanomaterials. The primary approach will be to prepare a M.O/E.O/nanoparticle blend dispersed with nanoparticles of varying shapes and sizes and compare their electrical, chemical, and thermal properties to determine the optimum blend for industrial needs. The Indian Standard Specification/Equivalent will be used as a benchmark to verify the various dielectric properties of oil blends. The optimized addition of nanoparticles of different size and shape in oil blends will solve issues such as non-biodegradability, high inflammability, and low fire point, improving the dielectric properties of insulating oils for transformers.