Characterization of Variant Vegetable Oil as a Substitute to Power Transformer Coolant

Abstract

The need to provide an alternative transformer coolant that will be safer, non-flammable and environmentally friendly as a substitute to the petroleum-based oil presently being used as transformer oil necessitated this research. The study explores the potential of variant vegetable oils (melon oil, jatropha oil, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil) as substitutes for petroleum-based transformer oil. In other to find a suitable, non-flammable alternative and biodegradable vegetable oil as alternative to transformer oil, these oils were subjected to dielectric and chemical tests, particularly their insulation breakdown voltage before and after the addition of nanoparticles. The insulation breakdown voltage test results of the vegetable oil samples without nanoparticle addition were Jatropha oil 21 kV, Coconut oil 18 kV, Melon seed oil 15 kV and PKO 25 kV, while with the introduction of nanoparticles, the results became 25 kV, 19 kV, 15 kV and 35 kV respectively. Results obtained from the study show that with nanoparticles, PKO exhibited the highest improvement, reaching 35 kV, making it the most suitable candidate for 11kV/415V distribution transformer. This suggest that PKO, with nanoparticle modification, can be a viable transformer coolant, but further research is needed to optimize oxidation stability and other key properties.