Exploring Sustainable Alternatives: A Comparative Study of Palm Oil and Mineral Oil as Coolants in a 150 kV Transformer
Keywords:
Mineral Oil, Transformer, Renewable EnergyAbstract
This study investigates the feasibility of using palm oil-based vegetable oil as a sustainable alternative to Nynas mineral oil in 150 kV transformers. While mineral oil is commonly used due to its high breakdown voltage and thermal stability, it is nonrenewable, has poor biodegradability, and presents environmental risks. In contrast, palm oil is abundant, renewable, biodegradable, and cost-effective, making it a promising substitute. Using the Lumped Capacitance Method (LCM) 2 system, we evaluated the thermal performance of both oils, focusing on their heat dissipation capabilities and temperature distribution within transformers. The results indicate that palm oil-based oil achieves thermal performance comparable to mineral oil, effectively maintaining operational temperatures within safe limits. Additionally, palm oil demonstrates a slightly higher heat transfer efficiency than mineral oil, with the
temperature T1 for Palm Oil is approximately 25.707135℃, after cooling down from an initial temperature (T0) of 30℃ to the environmental temperature (T∞) of 25℃. In comparison, mineral oil's temperature (T1 ) is approximately 25.750410℃ under the same conditions. These findings highlight palm oil as a viable, eco-friendly alternative for transformer cooling, particularly in regions with
abundant palm oil resources, aligning with sustainability goals while ensuring transformer reliability.
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