Effect of Conducting, Semi-Conducting and Insulating Nanoparticles on AC Breakdown Voltage and Partial Discharge Activity of Synthetic Ester: A Statistical Analysis

Abstract

This paper is aimed at studying the influence of conducting (Fe3O4), semi-conductive (ZnO), and insulating (ZrO2, SiO2, and Al2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) at various concentrations on the AC dielectric strength of MIDEL 7131 synthetic ester (SE) and partial discharges activity. First, a detailed and improved procedure for preparing nanofluids (NFs) in five concentrations ranging from 0.1 g/L to 0.5 g/L is presented, including high-speed agitation and ultrasonication. Then, the long-term stability is checked based on zeta potential analysis. After preparing and characterizing the NF samples, the following step is to measure their AC breakdown voltage (BDV). Due to the limitation of the high voltage supply (Baur system), the tests are performed according to IEC 60156 standard (2.5 mm gap distance) only with ZnO, ZrO2, and SiO2 NPs, and for comparison, tests are executed for all considered NPs with an electrodes gap of 2 mm. It is shown that the addition of Fe3O4 (20 nm), ZnO (25 nm), ZrO2 (20–30 nm), SiO2 (10–20 nm), Al2O3 (20–30 nm), and Al2O3 (50 nm) NPs improves the dielectric strength of synthetic ester upon an optimal concentration which gives the highest AC BDV. SiO2 (10–20 nm) and Al2O3 (20–30 nm) manifest their best improvement at 0.3 g/L, while for the other NFs, the best improvement is observed at 0.4 g/L. Further, the Anderson–Darling goodness-of-fit test is performed on the experimental data to check their conformity with the Extreme value (EV), normal, and Weibull distributions; the normal and EV fit curves are plotted and used to evaluate the breakdown voltages at probabilities of 1%, 10%, and 50%. It is shown that the AC breakdown voltage outcomes for most investigated nanofluids mostly obey the three EV, normal, and Weibull distributions. Then, the best combinations (nature of NP and optimal concentration), namely Fe3O4 (20 nm, 0.4 g/L), Al2O3 (20–30 nm, 0.3 g/L), and Al2O3 (50 nm, 0.4 g/L) NPs, that highly enhance the AC BDV of SE are chosen for a partial discharge activity investigation and comparison with pure SE. It is shown that the addition of those NPs significantly reduces the activity of partial discharges compared to pure SE.