Enhancement of AC electro-insulating liquid with rice bran oil-based TiO₂ and Fe₃O₄ nanofluids as alternative transformer oil Available to Purchase

Vegetable oil is an alternative to power transformer oil. One of the vegetable oils is Rice Bran Oil (RBO). The material is abundant in Indonesia and has great benefits. This paper discusses the effect of nanofluids on RBO to improve dielectric properties by utilizing several different types of nanoparticles (NP) such type conductive as magnetite (Fe₃O₄) and type semi-conductive as titanium dioxide (TiO₂). Each study sample had 0.05% mg. The sample was compared with Mineral Oil (MT) and tested for chemical, physical, and electrical properties. The physical properties testing includes the viscosity and density tests, while the chemical properties include the water and acid level. Electrical properties testing involves Breakdown Voltage with VDE 370 electrode from IEC 60156 standard under repeated heating conditions from room temperature 30°C - 60°C. From the results of the analysis of modified RBO samples, it was identified that conductive nanoparticles such as Fe₃O₄ and semiconductive types such as suspended TiO₂ were superior to MT. This is indicated in the results that have been summarized that all the values of viscosity and density modification of RBO do not match SPLN 49-1 because of the high intermolecular value compared to MT. Increased resistance to breakdown stress of RBO, including long-chain fatty acids that are not erosive, the acid number and humidity data or water content meet SPLN 49-1 standard and ASTM D6871 standard so that even though there is aging on the RBO compared to organic acids with stress chains owned by MT, the increase is very little. From the test results, it is known that the nanoparticles used in the experiment have unique characteristics that inhibit thermal dispersion through the agolmerated nanoparticles surface which in the future can be good candidates for the development of RBO for dielectric applications.