AC Breakdown Performance of A12O3 and SiC Natural Ester Based Nanofluids

In this paper, dielectric Al ₂ O ₃ and semi conductive SiC nanoparticles were added to a certain volume of natural ester oil. The two types of nanoparticles were dispersed into the base oil in the same weight % ratio (0.004% w/w) with the assistance of ultrasonication and magnetic stirring. AC breakdown voltage of the nano-oil samples was measured according to IEC 60156 standard using a Baur DTA 100C, while Normal and Weibull distributions were used to calculate the breakdown probability for the samples in question in comparison to the corresponding ones of the base oil. The results prove the effect of the integration of these specific types of nanoparticles in the same concentrations in terms of AC breakdown voltage in order to draw a conclusion on the reliability of them as an alternative insulating medium of a power transformer.