Understanding the Lightning Impulse Breakdown Strength of Carbon Quantum Dots-Modified Silica Nanofluids

The study provides an understanding of lightning impulse characteristics of the mineral oil used in transformers and other high voltage applications. The withstanding capabilities of the mineral oil were studied under different experimental conditions such as electrode gap distance, electrode type, type of nano-filler and concentration of fillers. Experiments were conducted for electrode gaps of 5 mm and 10 mm. Different electrode configurations such as needle-sphere and needle-plane electrodes were used. Nanofillers such as SiO2 and Carbon Quantum Dots-treated SiO2 nanoparticles were used in various concentrations of 0.01 % wt., 0.05 % wt. and 0.1 % wt. of mineral oil. Comparisons were made for positive and negative polarities of lightning impulse test voltages. Experimental results were shown to understand the influence of nanoparticles to deliver better results in impulse-withstanding capabilities of commercially used mineral oil with improved performance in lightning impulse-withstanding strength.