Today's electrical transformer insulating fluids are petroleum-based products but, according to researchers at Universidad del Valle (Univalle), they can be replaced with esters obtained from vegetable sources.
The ester-based transformer oil market is expected to grow from USD 85.00 million in 2022 and up to USD 96.30 million in 2030, according to a July 2023 market report by Primeiq Research.
According to Professor Diego Fernando Garcia Gomez, afiliated to the Research Group in High Voltage (GRALTA) and the School of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, although the use in small and medium transformers is already widespread, the use in large transformers is still limited and further research is needed to confirm their properties and behavior especially in real operating environments.
"Today, Colombia relies heavily on external sources to obtain mineral oil," said the professor, adding that thanks to plant-based insulating liquids, Colombia could become from an importing country to an exporter of this agro-industrial product.
Image: Cumulative density function of the negative BDV impulse. Credit: Montero Et al. (https://doi.org/10.1109/EEEIC/ICPSEurope57605.2023.10194693)
The Research
In a journal article titled “A comparative study on the dielectric properties of mineral oils and natural esters” presented at the 2023 International Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering (EEEIC), the researchers compared the performance of sunflower and soybean oils with the standard option, a mineral oil.
Professor Garcia explained that vegetable esters have similar insulating properties and a high fire and flash point compared to mineral oil.
"With flash points above 300 degrees Celsius, this technology is very suitable for our tropical climate," said Prof. Garcia, adding that 10 years ago, these materials were 5 times more expensive than mineral oils, but now, taking into account the whole life cycle, they can be more economical.
"It's a bargain," Prof. Garcia said, adding that vegetable esters can also last 20 years and then be used as biofuel.
The project is part of an international collaboration with Spanish researchers.
Maria Belén Garcia De Burgos, Professor of the Electrical Engineering Department at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in Spain was the director of Professor Garcia from Colombia and explained that they have collaborated on different projects in the field of power transformers before.
"They have characterized more environmentally friendly dielectric materials that can be an alternative to mineral oil," Professor Garcia said.
She added that the collaboration with Univalle was key to the success of the project.
"It is important because they have an excellent high voltage laboratory and great experience in the subject of materials and equipment testing," Professor Garcia said.
The project was supported by the Spanish Research Agency in the framework of Project PID2019-107126RB-C21/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, under grant number 823969.
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Foto: Montaje para las pruebas de respuesta dieléctrica en frecuencia Crédito: Montero Et al. (https://doi.org/10.1109/EEEIC/ICPSEurope57605.2023.10194693)
Ambiciones por el Futuro
El profesor García explicó que el cambio ya está viniendo, con empresas colombianas como EMcali, EPM y Celsia están usando los ésteres de origen vegetal en transformadores cada vez más grandes.
“Ya hay una empresa colombiana que produce y vende aceite con base de palma para transformadores”, dijo el profesor García.
Él comentó que aunque hay un gran potencial, hay mucho más trabajo por hacer.
“No es tan sencillo cambiar un aceite por otro, es necesario construir nuevas máquinas aptas para recibir los ésteres de origen vegetal”, manifestó el profesor García.
Aunque hay retos, el profesor tiene esperanza de que una industria nueva ya está creciendo.
“Colombia ya está produciendo estos aceites por otros usos y puede convertir desde una importadora hasta un productor importante en la región", planteó el profesor García.
If you are interested in contacting the researcher or learning more about the project, please write to the Communications Office, Faculty of Engineering: comunicaingenieria(at)correounivalle.edu.co.
Cover photo: Professor Diego Fernando García Gómez of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Credit: Andrew James/NCC-FI/Univalle
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