Simulation of electrical and thermal properties performance of mineral oil based nanofluids

Abstract

Mineral oil is one of the most common oil that is being used for transformer insulation. They act as an insulator and heat dissipator in the system. Failure of transformer is a very is quite crucial as it is very costly to replace. Since it is under constant pressure of electrical stress and ageing, it degrades and loses its dielectric properties easily with course of time and when fall short of its expected lifetime. In order to demonstrate the efficacy and capabilities of transformer oil, several researchers have conducted experimental studies of due to the growing demand for the production of good insulation. For transformer applications, this is achieved by suspending the nanosized solid particles in the oil which then called as nanofluid. The purpose of this project is to investigate the electrical and thermal properties of mineral oil based nanofluids using quickfield simulation in the presence of the different types nanoparticle of magnesium oxide, titanium dioxide and iron oxide which were classified based on their conductivity. Different concentration for nanoparticles 1%, 5% and 10% were used to prepare the nanofluids. A test cell model and dummy three phase transformer were designed in order to investigate the electrical and thermal properties of the nanofluids. It is found that the addition of nanoparticles enhances both electrical and thermal properties the fluid. It is envisaged that the method used can be very useful in determining the properties of nanoparticles before testing in real life.