Abstract:In November 2017, the first ±1100 kV high-voltage direct-current power transformer in the world, which was made by Siemens in Nurnberg, passed its type test. Meanwhile, in early 2017, a ±1000 kV ultra-high voltage (UHV) substation was officially put into operation in Tianjin, China. These examples illustrate that the era of UHV power transmission is coming. With the rapid increase in power transmission voltage, the performance requirements for the insulation of power transformers are getting higher and higher. The traditional mineral oils used inside power transformers as insulating and cooling agents are thus facing a serious challenge to meet these requirements. In this review, the basic properties of traditional mineral insulating oil are first introduced. Then, the variation of electrical properties such as breakdown strength, permittivity, and conductivity during transformer operation and aging is summarized. Next, the modification of mineral insulating oil is investigated with a focus on the influence of nanoparticles on the electrical properties of nano-modified insulating oil. Recent studies on the performance of mineral oil at molecular and atomic levels by molecular dynamics simulations are then described. Finally, future research hotspots and notable research topics are discussed.

This paper focuses on the space charge behavior in oil-paper insulation systems used in power transformers. It begins with the importance of understanding the space charge behavior in oil-paper insulation systems, followed by the introduction of the pulsed electrostatic technique (PEA). After that, the research progress on the space charge behavior of oil-paper insulation during the recent twenty years is critically reviewed. Some important aspects such as the environmental conditions and the acoustic wave recovery need to be addressed to acquire more accurate space charge measurement results. Some breakthroughs on the space charge behavior of oil-paper insulation materials by the research team at the University of Southampton are presented. Finally, future work on space charge measurement of oil-paper insulation materials is proposed.

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Thermal vertical bimorph actuators consist of silicon beams side-coated with aluminium. Upon heating they bend like a bimetal and produce movement in the wafer plane. We have measured the time constant describing the deflection response of the actuator to input pulses. Depending on the dimensions of the actuator, the time constant ranges from 0.5 ms to 3.8 ms. Lateral resonances of the first mode have been measured using thermal excitation and are found to be between 20 and 85 kHz.

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