Aging analysis of non-edible natural ester oil–paper insulation under various conditions.

Natural esters have emerged as a viable and sustainable alternate for liquid insulation in power transformers. However, the natural esters currently used for transformer applications are extracted from edible sources, leading to concerns about their impact on the food supply. In order to overcome this issue, studies on the dielectric properties of non-edible natural esters have received a lot of attention in industries as alternative dielectric liquids for power transformers. In this research work, non-edible natural esters, namely Jatropha oil, Karanja oil, and Mahua oil are taken for analysis. Cellulose materials are impregnated with these oil samples, further, the samples are aged at 130 °C up to 28 days. Different dielectric, mechanical, physical and chemical parameters are measured and analyzed after every 7 days of aging. When comparing the results, karanja oil performed better than others. • Feasibility study on non-edible oils as alternative to existing mineral oil. • Accelerated aging study on non-edible oils. • Non-edible esters performed well after aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]