Investigations on the flashover characteristics of ester oil impregnated pressboard under the influence of nanoparticles

Surface discharge is the kind of partial discharge that occurs along the surface of the solid insulation in contact with the gas or liquid insulation. It degrades the solid insulating materials and reduces the life time of the equipment. In order to prevent the surface discharge, the influence of the SiO₂ nanoparticleson the partial discharge characteristics of the oil impregnated pressboard insulation is to be investigated. And now a days, the natural esters are preferred as the alternative for the mineral oil. To employ natural ester in the transformer, we have to investigate the properties and changes in the characteristics of the solid insulation with the natural esters. In this work the flashover characteristics of pressboard samples with pure transformer oil, Rice bran oil (RBO) are also to be analyzed. The experiments are carried out on the 1 mm, 3 mm thickness pressboard samples by using sphere to sphere electrode configuration under the AC voltage. The result shows that nano ester fluid improves the partial discharge inception voltage (PDIV) and flashover characteristics of oil impregnated pressboards.