The highly efficient purification capacity of rGO-zeolite composites for aged oil in transformer machines

Abstract

This research attempts to develop an effective oil purification material composite comprised of reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) and zeolite nanoparticles. The resultant composites have a high specific surface area (310–420 m2/g) and an appropriate average pore size (1.9–4 nm) for transformer oil purification applications. The oil purification capability of the rGO-zeolite composite was evaluated using a static adsorption test. The findings show that as-synthesised materials provide better acidity, breakdown voltage, viscosity, and color than the commercial zeolite material, ZSM-5, and other purification materials reported in the literature. Additionally, according to the purification results, the rGO-zeolite composite shows a better purification behaviour than the composite made of rGO and ZnO nanoparticles in the previous work. Furthermore, compared to virgin oil, the quality of refined oil in this work is practically identical. This result may be explained by the unique properties of the rGO-zeolite composite, such as its high BET specific surface area and the appropriate average pore size for aged oil purification. Furthermore, the homogeneous distribution of zeolite nanoparticles on the rGO flake may increase the residence period for the purification process, improving the purification efficiency of the rGO-zeolite composite.

Keywords

• rGO-zeolite composite
• Transformer oil
• Purification process
• Pore size