Insulating Oils

By
Santosh.N
Engineer/Hosur
 Insulation and Cooling
 Keep the conductor elements away from
each other.
 Prevent or rapidly quench electric arc.
 Cool the system to maintain lower
temperature in the system.
 Keep moisture away from the vulnerable
compounds of the power transformer.
 Mineral Oils
• Petroleum in origin.
• It is made by removal of lighter products of
the crude oil such as gasoline, kerosene,
diesel fraction etc. by atmospheric
distillation. Further it is refined under
vacuum for removal of various reactive
hydrocarbons (sulphur, nitrogen, oxygen,
aromatic hydro carbons etc.) and impurities
and de-waxed for usage as transformer oil.
Properties of Transformer Mineral oil

•   Electrical
– High Dielectric Strength  
– High Resistivity
– Low Loss Factor

• Cooling
– Low viscosity
– High thermal conductivity
– Low density
Properties of Transformer Mineral oil
• Chemical      
--Low water content  
--Low pour point
--High flash point 
--Low acidity
--Non corrosive 
--High resistance to oxidation, chemically stable

• Safety & Environmental  

   

--Bio-degradable
--Non-Toxic (Doesn’t damage any thing/ Non Poisonous)
Origin
• Petroleum crude Types

• 84% Carbons • Paraffinic Type

• Hydrogen 14% • Naphthenic Type
• Sulphur 1 to 3%
• N2, O2, Metals and Salts
• Paraffinic Oil : A term applied to
mineral insulating oil derived from
crude’s having substantial contents
of naturally occurring n-paraffin’s
(wax). Such an oil must be de-waxed
and may need the additional of a
pour depressant in order to exhibit
a low pour point
• CnH2n+2 (n lies between 5 to 15)
• Naphthenic Oil : A term applied to
mineral insulating oil derived from a
special crude’s having very low
naturally occurring n-paraffin’s
(wax) contents. Such an oil has a low
natural pour point and does not
need to be de-waxed nor does it
usually require the of depressant

• CnH2n (n lies between 5 to 15)

• Paraffins

 N-Paraffins
 Iso Paraffins
Naphthens
 Cycloparaffins
 Aromatics
 Olefins (atleast one Carbon-Carbon double
bond)
 H
I
H –C – H
I
H –C – H
Normal Paraffin
H H I H H H
I I I I I I
H H H H H H H–C–C–C–C–C–C–H
I I I I I I
I I I I I I H H H I H H
H–C–C–C–C–C–C–H H –C – H
I
I I I I I I H –C – H
H H H H H H I
H

Iso Paraffin
 Naphthenes
H H H H
H H H2 C H2 C H2
H C H
H C C H C C C

H C C H
H C H C C
H H C H2 C H2
H2

H H H H
Ring Naphthene
(Cyclo-Paraffin) 2 Ring Naphthene
 Anti Oxidant (Inhibitor)
• Slows down the oxidation of oil thereby
reducing the formation of sludge and acidity.
• It is mandatory to know the proportion of
anti oxidant added to monitor the depletion
of the same during service.
• Commonly used anti oxidants are 2,6-Di-tert-
Butyl-Para-Cresol(DBPC) and 2,6-Di-tert-
Butyl-Phenol(DBP).
 TRANSFORMER OIL SPECIFICATIONS

• NEW OIL:
• An unused mineral insulating oils intended
to use in transformers for insulation and
cooling purpose.
• IS-335/1993 – Specification for uninhibited
new insulating oils.
• IS-12463/1988 – Specification for inhibited
mineral insulating oils.
 TRANSFORMER OIL SPECIFICATIONS
• IEC -60296/2003 – Specification for unused
mineral insulating oils for transformers and
switchgear. This standard cover both
uninhibited and inhibited oils.
• ASTM (American society for testing and
materials) – D3487/2000- Standard
Specification for Mineral Insulating Oil used
in Electrical apparatus. This standard also
covers both uninhibited and inhibited oils.
POWERGRID TRANSFORMER OIL SPECIFICATIONS
POWERGRID TRANSFORMER OIL SPECIFICATIONS
 TRANSFORMER OIL SPECIFICATIONS
• Unused Mineral Insulating oils filled in New
transformers
• IS – 1866/2000 – Code of Practice for
Electrical Maintenance and supervision of
Mineral Insulating oil in Equipment.
(Refer Table.1 for limiting values of various
parameters)
• IEC – 60422/1998 – Supervision and
maintenance guide for mineral insulating
oils in electrical equipment (limits below
400 kV are only specified).
 TRANSFORMER OIL SPECIFICATIONS
Recommended Limits of Mineral Oil

StdID stdnam e level BDVlim Waterlim Resistivitylim TanDeltalim IFTlim Aciditylim Flashlim

1 IS-1866 InService Above 170kV (OAD) 50 20 0.1 0.2 15 0.3 125

2 IS-1866 InService 72.5-170kV (B) 40 40 0.1 1 15 0.3 125

3 IS-1866 InService Below 72.5kV C 30 0.1 1 15 0.3 125
4 IS-1866 BeforeCharging Above 170 kV 60 10 6 0.01 35 0.03 140
5 IS-1866 BeforeCharging 72.5-170kV 50 15 6 0.015 35 0.03 140
6 IS-1866 BeforeCharging Below 72.5kV 40 20 6 0.015 35 0.03 140
Uninhibited Fresh
7 IS-335 30 50 35 0.002 40 0.03 140
Oil

8 IS-1866 InService Inst Tran <170kV (E) 40 30 0.1 0.3 15 0.3 125

Inst Tran >170kV

9 IS-1866 InService 50 20 0.1 0.2 15 0.3 125
(D)
10 IS-12463 Fresh Inhibited Oil 30 50 35 0.002 40 0.03 140
Uninhibited Fresh
11 IEC-60296 40 30 0 0.005 40 0.01 135
Oi
 TRANSFORMER OIL SPECIFICATIONS
Recommended Limits for DGA

DGA
stdDesc H2 CH4 C2H4 C2H6 C2H2 CO CO2
stdID
IEEE-C57.104-2008-Transmission
1 100 120 50 65 1 350 2500
Eqpts
2 IEC-60599-1999-Furnace Trans 200 150 200 150 800 6000
3 IEC-60599-1999-Dist Transfo 100 50 50 50 5 200 5000
4 IEC-60599-1999-Inst Transfo 300 30 10 50 2 300 900
IEEE-C57.104-2008-Generator
5 140 160 190 115 11 580
Transformers
6 IEC-61464-Bushings 140 40 30 70 2 1000 3400