Suitability of Palm Based Oil as Dielectric Insulating Fluid in Transformers

Mineral oil has been widely used as dielectric insulating fluid in transformers due to itsexcellent performance in-service. However, there are few issues with mineral oil such as it has poorbiodegradability and could contaminate the environment if a spillage occurs. With the increasingtight regulation on safety and environment, alternative fluids for mineral oil are currently beinginvestigated and among the suitable candidate is the vegetable oil. There are different types ofvegetable oils and one of them is the palm based oil. At the moment, extensive research works arecarried out to examine its feasibility to be applied in transformers. This paper will review theprevious research works that were carried out to examine the suitability of palm based oil asdielectric insulating fluid in transformers. The physical and chemical properties of palm based oilare studied based on viscosity, acidity, oxidation stability and flash point. Next, the electricalcharacteristics of palm based oil are examined based on AC breakdown voltage, relative permittivity,dissipation factor and partial discharge. KCI Citation Count: 17