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A critical review of plant-based insulating fluids for transformer: 30-year development

Zijia Shen, Feipeng Wang, Zhiqing Wang and Jian Li

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2021, vol. 141, issue C

Abstract: As a non-renewable resource, mineral oil has been re-evaluated for its value and suitability as the coolant and insulator in transformers because of its environmental unfriendliness, fire hazards, and operating efficiency dissatisfaction. As a result, alternative dielectric liquids meeting the demands for more reliable, safer, and cleaner energy has been a critical need. Plant-based insulating fluids, non-toxic to the environment and ultimately biodegradable, have been flowing into the mainstream for achieving cost efficiencies, performance advantages, and enhancing safety. With more than 20 years of field experience, plant-based oils are now employed in more than 600,000 transformers worldwide, and have been established an enviable performance track record. Far from being just a mineral oil replacement, but more significantly, plant-based oils have filled a gap in some specific application scenarios where mineral oils fail to satisfy the fire-safety and environmental standards. This article reviews the research status of plant-based insulating fluids for transformer, including both challenges and outlook circa 2020. Plant-based oils have many inherent advantages over mineral oil, but also have numerous and unique challenges.

Keywords: Plant oil; Natural ester; Transformer; Insulating materials; Dielectric fluids; Biodegradability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2021.110783

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