Influence of Conductive Nanoparticles on the Breakdown Voltage of Mineral Oil, Synthetic and Natural Ester Oil-based Nanofluids

Abstract

This paper deals with experimental study of the influence of magnetic nanoparticles namely (Fe3O4) at various concentrations on the dielectric strength of mineral oil, synthetic and natural esters (namely MIDEL 7131 and MIDEL 1204, respectively). A statistical analysis of experimental results is conducted using Weibull probabilistic law. The breakdown voltage with risk of 1%, 10%, and 50% probability are also estimated. Experimental findings reveal that this type of nanoparticles significantly improves AC breakdown voltage of mineral oil and synthetic ester. The enhancement is the highest for mineral oil; the breakdown voltage (BDV) can exceed twice that of mineral oil. With synthetic ester, the enhancement can reach 48%. While the improvement of breakdown voltage of natural ester based Fe3O4 nanofluids does not exceed 7%. The physicochemical mechanisms implicated in this improvement are discussed.