Tests of Impregnation Speed of Electrotechnical Pressboard with Insulating Oil

Abstract

The paper presents a new test stand for ivestigating the rate of penetration of transformer oil through electrotechnical pressboard. The stand consists of a pipe, to the lower end of which is glued a pressboard plate. The pipe is filled with insulating oil. A mirror is placed under the plate, which directs its image to the lens of the camera, which takes a series of photographs at a given time interval. After being saturated with the insulating oil, the pressboard changes colour from light to dark yellow. The absorbing time is defined as the time in which a dark yellow spot appears on the lower light surface of the pressboard after the pipe is filled with oil. A new way of determining capillary diameters has been developed when the number of capillaries is unknown and the volume of liquid flowing through them is not measurable. The distribution of the times of penetration of transformer oil through 2 mm thick electrotechnical pressboard was determined, the values of which range from about 220 min to about 550 min. It was found that the radii of capillaries through which the insulating oil penetrates are within the range from about 45 nm to about 70 nm. Due to the structure of the pressboard, which consists of cellulose fibres, arranged more or less tightly, there are capillaries in the structure of the board, each of which has sections of varying lengths of radii. This means that short sections of a single capillary can have radii both smaller than 45 nm and larger than 70 nm. The developed stand and the new analysis method can be used for testing various porous materials for penetration by various liquids.