Research and Development of Natural Vegetable Insulating Oil Based on Jatropha curcas Seed Oil

Abstract

Jatropha curcas is a natural non-food resource with high oil-content seeds, that has attracted worldwide attention as it is an ideal renewable resource for the production of biofuels. With the increasing use of vegetable insulating oil in related industries, it is valuable to develop the vegetable insulating oils from Jatropha curcas seed oil. This study explores how to use Jatropha curcas seed oil to prepare high-quality natural vegetable insulating oil. A six-step process is first established according to the optimization results of alkali refining, activated clay treatment and alumina treatment of Jatropha curcas seed oil, combined with cold treatment, water washing and high temperature decompression treatment. Physicochemical and electrical performance tests show that most of the properties of the prepared vegetable insulating oil are significantly improved compared with the original seed oil, and meet the standard requirements for vegetable insulating oil, especially with no sulfur corrosion, a breakdown voltage of 72 kV and an acid value (KOH, potassium hydroxide) of 0.012 mg/g.