The behaviour of surface discharges on a liquid nanocomposite interface

Abstract

The optical and electrical behaviour of surface discharges, caused by the application of 50 Hz sinusoidal voltages in the range of 30 to 45kV, on epoxy based nanocomposites under mineral oil have been measured. The solid nanocomposites used contained either ZnO nano particles at concentrations between 0.1wt% and 3wt% or Al2O3 nanoparticles at 0.1wt% and 0.5wt%. The optical behaviour of the surface discharge has been quantified in terms of: maximum discharge channel length; integrated optical emission and fractal dimension. The behaviour of the surface discharge activity is discussed in terms of the changes in these measured parameters as the applied voltage, the type of nanoparticle and the nanoparticle concentration is varied.