electrical insulation
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This article is a continuation of a case study in which we presented the results of research on processes generated under fire conditions by mixing molten ammonium nitrate (AN) with selected polymers. Here, we present an analysis of how certain materials, which may frequently appear in farm buildings and are commonly used in the immediate vicinity of humans, can potentially form explosives. The chosen materials include polyamides (PA) from which the wear-resistant machine elements are made (e.g., high-performance gears, wheels of transport trolleys); polyvinyl chloride (PVC) used, i.e., in construction carpentry, electrical insulation, and hydraulic pipes; polystyrene (PS) used, i.e., in insulation and containers; and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), i.e., so-called organic glass and plexiglass. The research results showed that these seemingly harmless and safe materials, mixed with AN and heated under fire conditions, may turn into explosives and stimulate stored AN. This creates significant risks of an uncontrolled fire progress.

Abstract This research investigates the optimal region to achieve balanced thermal and electrical insulation properties of epoxy (EP) under high frequency (HF) and high temperature (HT) via integration of surface-modified hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanoparticles. The effects of nanoparticle content and high temperature on various electrical (DC, AC, and high frequency) and thermal properties of EP are investigated. It is found that the nano h-BN addition enhances thermal performance and weakens electrical insulation properties. On the other side, under HF and HT stress, the presence of h-BN nanoparticles significantly improves the electrical performance of BN/EP nanocomposites. The EP has superior insulation properties at low temperature and low frequency, whereas the BN/EP nanocomposites exhibit better insulation performance than EP under HF and HT. The factors such as homogeneous nanoparticle dispersion in EP, enhanced thermal conductivity, nanoparticle surface modification, weight percent of nanoparticles, the mismatch between the relative permittivity of EP and nano h-BN, and the presence of voids in nanocomposites play the crucial role. The optimal nanoparticle content and homogenous dispersion can produce suitable EP composites for the high frequency and high temperature environment, particularly solid-state transformer applications.

Abstract Abstract: Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) film has received tremendous attention due to its excellent electrical insulation, which shows great application prospects in the field of electronic devices. However, the low efficient heat dissipation of NFC film largely limits its use in advanced applications. In this work, the rGO hybrid fillers loaded alumina (Al2O3) particles with different sizes were synthesized by different drying methods and then they were mixed with NFC to prepare a series of NFC-based composite films. The effect of Al2O3 particle sizes on the thermal conductivity of NFC-based composite films was studied. The results showed that the surface areas of l-Al2O3 particles were smaller than that of s-Al2O3 particles, resulting in the smaller interface thermal resistance and superior thermal conductivity of the film containing l-Al2O3 particles. The NFC-based composite films showed great potential for the applications in thermal management by adjusting the particle size of fillers.

To promote the construction of the thermal network in the epoxy resin (EP), a certain proportion of silver nanowires (AgNWs) coupled with the hexagonal boron nitride (BN) nanoplates were chosen as fillers to improve the thermal conductivity of EP resin. Before preparing the composites, BN was treated by silane coupling agent 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550), and AgNWs was coated by dopamine hydrochloride. The BN/AgNWs/EP composites were prepared after curing, and the thermal conductivity and dielectric properties of the composites was tested. Results showed that the AgNWs and BN were uniformly dispersed in epoxy resin. It synergistically built a thermal network and greatly increased the thermal conductivity of the composites, which increased 9% after adding AgNWs. Moreover, the electrical property test showed that the addition of AgNWs had little effect on the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the composites, indicating a rather good electrical insulation of the composites.

The article provides an overview of the most common methods for monitoring the technical state of electrical insulation, based on the applying of absorption phenomena arising in dielectric materials under the influence of DC voltage. The main provisions of the control method based on determining the voltage at the electrodes of the investigated capacitive control object, which is recovering after a short-term discharge of its capacity, are described. The main aspects of the application of the polarization index and the absorption coefficient for determining the technical state of insulation by using the coefficients characterizing the change in time of the current through the dielectric when a constant test voltage is applied to it are analyzed. The advantages of using absorption methods for monitoring the technical state of electrical insulation, first of all, are the ability to carry out testing without the necessity of applying of relatively high test voltages, which greatly simplifies all the necessary technical operations. Such control methods show a significant dependence of the informative parameters used in them on the technical state of insulation on the degree of development of slow polarization processes in the material under study and, therefore, are successfully used to determine the degree of moisture in tested electrical insulation.