Current Issues Regarding the Analysis of the Physico-Chemical and Electrical Properties of Transformer Oil

Researchers and practitioners interested in the operation, monitoring and diagnosis of electrical equipment (such as: transformers, motors and generators, circuit breakers, etc.) know that in order to ensure a safe operation of such equipment it is necessary to know, among other things, the condition of the insulation system. This is one of the essential information to know because about 40% of failures which occur in the operation of the electrical equipment are due to insulation breakdown; in some cases they can reach even close to 100%. In this context this pa-per proposes the presentation of several modern methods and equipment for the study and analysis of physical and chemical properties (namely: analysis of water content, density and interfacial tension, dissolved gas analysis and furan components determination) and electrical parameters (namely: determination of loss factor and relative permittivity) of transformer oil. Samples of transformer oil type MOL TO 30.01 (uninhibited electrical insulator, non-additive), new StaSo Transformer Oil I (high quality inhib-ited insulating oil) and TR 30 oil were studied. Two samples were collected directly from the original barrel, two samples were collected from the transformer tank after dielectric tests at the transformer’s manufacturer and also two samples of used TR 30 oil were collected from two transformers. The tests were carried out in an accredited laboratory with calibrated equipment. The results highlighted the properties of each analyzed sampled. The interpretation of the results emphasized the qualities and defects of each analyzed oil sample and whether or not they fit the standards in the field.