Insulating Oil

insulating oil

[′in·sə‚lād·iŋ ‚ȯil]

(materials)

A chlorinated hydrocarbon, such as trichlorobenzene, mixed with fluorinated hydrocarbons, whose high dielectric strength and high flash point allow it to be used in switches, circuit breakers, and transformers as an insulator and cooling medium. Also known as electrical oil.

Insulating Oil

 

(also electrical oil), a highly refined petroleum oil or, less often, a synthetic or vegetable oil that is used to insulate and cool electrical equipment, for example, transformers (seeTRANSFORMER OIL), capacitors, or cables. Insulating oils are distinguished by high dielectric strength (up to 25 megavolts/m) and have a resistivity of the order of 10¹⁰–10¹² ohm-cm.

In the 1970’s, the world production of insulating oils amounted to about a million tons per year of petroleum oils and about 50,000 tons per year of synthetic oils.

REFERENCES

Krein, S. E., and R. V. Kulakova. Neftianye izoliatsionnye masla. Moscow-Leningrad, 1959.
Lipshtein, R. A., and M. I. Shakhnovich. Transformatornoe maslso, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1968.
Shakhnovich, M. 1. Sinleticheskie zhidkosti dlia elektricheskikh apparatov. Moscow, 1972.

insulating oil

A type of oil used within the enclosure of a transformer, switch, or other electric device, for insulating and cooling purposes.