Molecular pyrolysis process and gas production characteristics of 3‐element mixed insulation oil under thermal fault

Abstract

Abstract Mixed insulation oil is considered as a desired substitute for traditional mineral oil. A novel 3‐element mixed insulation oil has been developed in our previous works, whose parameters satisfy the mineral oil standard (IEC 60296:2012). In the application of transformer oil, dissolved gas analysis is an effective method for insulation fault diagnosis. Thermal fault is a common and typical fault in transformers; however, the pyrolysis process and gas production characteristics of mixed insulation oil under thermal fault remain unknown. In this study, the pyrolysis process and gas production characteristics of 3‐element mixed insulation oil have been studied through simulation and experiments, and mineral oil is equally treated for comparison. Results show that the gas production characteristics of mixed oil are closely related to its base oils, and 3‐element mixed insulation oil generates more H2 and C2H6 under thermal fault, in which the percentage of H2 in the mixed oil is always three times that in the mineral oil. More CO2 is produced in mixed oil under thermal fault because of ester bonds; C2H4 is also a main characteristic gas for mixed insulation oil under thermal fault, and its proportion increases continuously with the increase of temperature. For mineral oil, the weight loss temperature in thermo‐gravimetric (TG) curve corresponds to evaporation rather than decomposition. Natural esters have poor thermal stability according to simulation results, but they possess high flash point and weight loss temperature in the TG curve primarily because of their large average molecular weight.