Exploring the Role of Nanoparticles in Improving Polyester Insulating Varnishes for Electrical Machines

Abstract

Incorporation of nanofillers is crucial in improving the electrical, mechanical, thermal properties, and barrier qualities of polymer nanocomposites if they are distributed well throughout the polymeric material. The selection of nanofiller type greatly influences the performance of the polymer nanocomposite. This study investigates the impact of incorporating different types of nanoparticles into polyester varnish, used in insulating electrical machinery, on the thermal and electrical characteristics of that varnish. Therefore, several varnish nanocomposites will be created in order to evaluate the novel material's thermal as well as dielectric properties and determine whether it is appropriate for use as insulation in electrical machinery. Consequently, the impact of incorporating both silicon dioxide (SiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>) and titanium dioxide (TiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>) nanoparticles into the base varnish material at varying loadings of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.7% (wt/wt) will be examined. Thinner serves as a solvent, and Permafil 9637 thermoset varnish is utilized as the study's basis material. To ensure optimal distribution of nanoparticles, both Elmasonic water bath sonicator and planetary centrifuge mixer are employed in the synthesis of nanocomposite materials. Dielectric characteristics are measured at frequencies up to 2.0 MHz, thermal conductivity of nanocomposites was investigated using a Hot Disk of type TPS 500 S apparatus, and AC breakdown voltage is measured. COMSOL software is then used to estimate the dielectric breakdown strength using the finite element method. The findings demonstrated that the characteristics of nanocomposites are significantly influenced by the type of nanofillers.