Assessment of accelerated aging for thermally upgraded transformer insulation paper by dicyandiamide

The oil-impregnated dielectric papers are the main components of distribution transformer which govern its service time. Therefore, durability enhancement of this grade of paper will cause to extend transformers life. Hence in this research long fiber unbleached Kraft pulp and mixture of it with bagasse soda pulp with the ratio of 20% to 80% were used to make oil-impregnated dielectric papers with the grammage of 60 g/m2. The effect of dicyandiamide application with different content in paper structure and thermal aging were then assessed on dielectric properties and tensile strength of the insulation papers. The results showed that with increasing dicyandiamide content, the capacitance and tensile strength index decreased in comparison with untreated samples, but dielectric loss, insulation resistance, and breakdown voltage were improved. However, slight changes were observed in most dielectric properties during aging, but dicyandiamide caused to prevent loss of the tensile strength of insulated papers. Generally it could be concluded that dicyandiamide acts efficiently in thermal stabilization of insulation paper exposed to aggressive conditions inside the oil-filled transformer.