Abstract
We have developed new vegetable based insulating oil for transformers called PFAE (Palm Fatty Acid Ester). PFAE has 0.6 times less viscosity and 1.3 times higher dielectric constant compared to mineral oil. The oxidative stability, biodegradability and acute toxicity to fish of PFAE has also been determined to be superior to mineral oil. In this paper, in order to optimize the characteristics of fatty acid esters originating from palm oil, several kinds of fatty acid alkyl esters were first synthesized in the laboratory by the molecular design technique and the transesterification from fatty acid methyl esters and alkyl alcohols. Next the electro-chemical characteristics of the fatty acid alkyl esters as insulating oil were analyzed.
