Partial discharge behaviour of an alternative insulating liquid compared to mineral oil

In times when personal safety and the security of electrical power supply become more and more important, the usage of alternative insulation fluids is demanded in large power transformers. The minimizing of fire loads is another significant reason for new liquids. Different companies are offering such alternative insulation liquids which are already used in distribution transformers. On the other hand there is little experience with those fluids in large power transformers. For the confirmation of the usability of new insulating liquids comparison methods must be tested to find the differences between the alternative insulating fluids and commonly used mineral oil. There are different methods for characterising insulating materials, like AC-Breakdown tests, partial discharge tests, lightning and switching impulse voltage tests, etcetera. Partial discharge behaviour is a distinguishing characteristic of an insulating medium. This paper shows the partial discharge behaviour of alternative insulation liquids such as synthetic and natural esters, compared to commonly used mineral oil. To generate the PD patterns, voltages up to 30kV and inhomogeneous test arrangements were used. A model of an oil/board insulation system was created by using sheets of pressboard.