“Staying fluid” – Understanding transformer oils and making the right choice

With the rapid changes in the energy industry, asset owners and operators are faced with a multitude of choices in solutions and components, best suited to their organization strategy, values, assets and their usage. These choices, more and more a balancing act between sustainability, asset life, performance, and economic considerations, extend to the selection of the “right” insulating fluids.

It is essential therefore to understand the technical characteristics and performance of an insulating fluid in view of the application at hand. Some examples of technical characteristics to be considered include requirements for:

• maximising cooling to prolong life in assets facing hotspots and high/cycling loads (eg solar farms, mining);
• minimising maintenance for large asset fleet owners and isolated sites;
• biodegradability on a given site;
• K-class fire rated fluids; and
• acceptable low temperature fluid behaviour in cold climates.

In an attempt to bring more transparency on fluid choice, and supporting decision makers and all stakeholders, this presentation also discusses other influencing factors in electing the best suited fluid such as historical data and experience, practical handling and storage, global availability and local delivery, and demonstrated vs hypothetical benefits.

Speakers

Philippe Reboul - Managing Director, Molekulis Pty Ltd

Philippe completed his MEng in general engineering from Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France and his MSc (Honours) in Material and Surface Science at Lyon University. Prior to Molekulis, Philippe was general manager of Nynas Australia and has been involved in transformer oil in Australia since 2012. Philippe also held senior positions within the oil and energy industry across Europe, Japan and Australia.

In his present role based in Brisbane, Philippe shares his passion about transformer oils with a key focus on supporting distribution and transmission utilities, generators, transformer manufacturers, electrical contractors and other energy asset owner throughout the Australia & New Zealand region.

Molekulis is a corporate member of EESA, Cigre Australia and Cigre NZ.

Philippe also sits on Standards Australia EL-008 Power Transformer committee and has been a supporter of the Australian Transformer Innovation Centre at UQ since its inception.