Thermoelectrically Enhanced Nanofluid is a Suitable Replacement for Transformer Oil

Abstract

This paper reveals the major experimental findings of a new batch of nanofluid (NF), which has all the dominating thermoelectrical properties being a novel transformer oil. Since liquid insulation of the power/distribution transformer carries nearly 80% of the entire insulation weight, so the efficiency of the insulating oil is very much important for the effective transformer efficiency. The investigation is being carried out taking titanium nanoparticle (NP) into consideration. An optimized concentration of 0.01wt% titanium NP is dispersed with mineral oil (MO). Two step method is implemented to prepare the NF, followed by addition of hydrophobic surfactant “Cetrimonium bromide [(C16H33)N(CH3)3]Br” (CTAB) which used to hinder sedimentation. Thermo electrical properties are studied for both MO and titanium NF and compared. It is observed that the addition of 0.01weight% NP to MO causes a significant enhancement in the dielectric strength of the NF. The resistivity increases and the dielectric losses (Tan delta) decreases, respectively for the NF. The kinematic viscosity of the NF is nearly unaffected and the thermal conductivity enhances significantly. The reason for the enhancement of breakdown voltage and thermal conductivity are analyzed numerically and validated experimentally.