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Insulation systems of electrical apparatus (fluid and solid) include transformer oil, insulating paper, glass, ceramic, mica and rubber. Normally, they are designed well to be stable at high temperatures and provide excellent electrical insulating properties in different operating loads. There is an increasing demand to modify the effectiveness and capabilities of these insulation systems to overcome various issues (e.g., overheating, overloading and short circuits). Moreover, they should match the new high voltage insulation requirements, safety, ultra-high voltage, and being environmentally friendly are some of them. Nanoparticles (NPs) are promising compensator materials that can be used to develop insulation systems with good thermophysical and dielectric properties. The results of many studies show marvelous enhancements in electrical and thermal properties. In this paper, the authors present a review that focuses on different NPs that are used in several aspects of insulation systems to improve the dielectric as well as the heat transfer properties of high voltage insulation applications. The review covers NPs types, the preparation methods, analysis approaches, different properties, performances and results, challenges, and the limitation of the use of NPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of palm-based neopentyl glycol diester as dielectric insulating fluid was investigated. The details of the transesterification of high oleic palm oil methyl ester (POME) with neopentyl glycol (NPG) with the final product yield of more than 90 wt% of NPG diester were discussed. The thermal aging performance of NPG diester was compared with conventional mineral insulating oil at 90, 110 and 130 °C. This paper focused mainly in the effects of aging to chemical, physical and electrical properties of NPG diester. Apart from being fully biodegradable and non-toxic, the synthesized diesters exhibited high flashpoint and the breakdown voltage was comparable to mineral oil. The result indicated that throughout the aging period, NPG diester exhibited lower acid value than mineral oil and no significant change in viscosity was observed. The study on mechanical properties of insulating paper aged in NPG diester shows higher tensile strength than paper aged in mineral oil. The synthesized esters have shown great potential to be used as transformer oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]