Department of Electrical Engineering
CIEM
3 RD Year, 5thsem (EE-592)
EXPERIMENT NO. -4
TITLE: DIELECTRIC STRENGTH TEST OF INSULATING OIL.
OBJECT: To measure the breakdown voltage of insulating oil for transformer.
THEORY
Transformer oil is the most commonly used liquid dielectric in power apparatus. It is used for electrical
nsulation and as a coolant. it is almost a colorless liquid mixture of hydrocarbons of paraffin's , iso paraffin's
,naphthalene and aromatics. When in service, the liquid in a transformer is subjected to prolonged heating at
high temperature of about 95 C and as a result it undergoes a gradual ageing process. With time the oil
become darker due to the formation of acids and resins or sludge in the liquid. Some of the acid is corrosive to
the solid insulating materials and metal part present in the transformer. Deposit of sludge on the transformer
core, on the coils and inside the oil ducts reduce circulation of oil and thus its heat transfer capability gets
reduce to a considerable extent
Complete specification for testing of transformer oils are given in IS 1866(1983), IEC 296(1969) and IEC474
(1974).
Dielectric strength is the most important parameter in the choice of a given liquid dielectric for
giver
application. The dielectric strength depends on the atomic and molecular properties. Of the liquid itself.
However, under practical condition the dielectric is depend on the material of the electrodes. Temperature,
type of the applied voltage, gas content in the liquid etc. which changes the dielectric strength by changing the
molecular properties of the liquid.
Break down test is normally conducted using test cells. For testing pure liquid, the test cell used are small so
that less quantity of liquid is require during testing. The electrodes used for break down voltage measurement
are usually spheres of 0.5 to 1.0 am in diameter with gap spacing of about 100-200um. The gap is
accurately
controlled by using a micrometer. Sometimes parallel plane uniform field electrode system is also used.
Electrodes separation is very critical in measurements with liquid and also the electrode surface smoothness
and the presense of oxide film have a marked influence on on the
breakdown strength. The test voltage
required for this test are usually low, of the order 50-100kv, because of small electrode spacing.the break
down strengths and dc conductivities obtained in pure
liquids are very high and is of the order of 1MV/cm and
10-10mho/cm.respectively, the conductivity being measured at electric field of the order of 1 KV /cm.
However the correspondingB values in commercial
liquids are relatively low.
The breakdown voltage at certain gap between electrodes is obtained
by the formula: KV /cm =
kV¢t *
1.225/x
Where, X is gap between two electrodes in cm.
kVett is the effective value of obtained from KV meter & 1.225 is the correction
factor.
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM:
Department of Electrical Engineering
CIEM
ELECTRODE
VARIAC
N
OIL TANK
Ne
PROCEDURE:
1. Make the unit earth properly
2. Connect the main power supply cord to the nearest power supply (230v a.c)
3 Adjust the gap between the electrodes of the oil test to 2.5 mm as per IS with help of
standard gauge provided with the oil test set.
4. Take the oil sample in the cell and place the cell on the aluminum stud provided on the HT
terminal of the transformer.
5. Close the acrylic door of the HV chamber.
6. Make the set on
7. Set the variac to the 0 position. HV circuit is not energized. It is also known as zero
interlocking
8 Press the HT On switch to energized the HT circuit.
Slowly increase the voltage with the variac upto test voltage this voltage can be measure by
KV meter. If the sample under test breaks below the test voltage, the HT circuit
automatically trips OFF. And the actual breakdown voltage can be measure by pressing the
memory push.
10. Press the Ht off. f raised voltage crosses the maximum voltage, then the over voltage lamp
will start glowing and the buzzer starts sound.
APPARATUS USED:
SI. No. Name of Equipment Quantity Range Makers name
Department of Electrical Engineering
CIEM
DATA TABLE:
Breakdown voltage Breakdown voltage
SI. No. Distance between
two electrode(mm) (KV) KV/cm
CALCULATION:
CONCLUTION:
Department of Electrical Engineering
CIEM
A course in Power Systems
-
J.B. GUPTA
REFERENCE:
V.K. MEHTA & ROHIT MEHTA
Principles of System
-
Power
