For the purpose of using three different types of painting materials for the inner protection of the transformer vats, their behavior was studied under actual conditions of operation in the transformer (thermal stress in electro-insulating fluid based on the natural ester in contact with copper for electro-technical use and electro-insulating paper). By comparing determination of the content in furans products (HPLC technique) and gases formed (by gas-chromatography) in the electro-insulating fluid (natural ester with high oleic content) thermally aged at 130 �C to 1000 hours in closed glass vessels, it have been found that the presence the investigated painting materials lead to a change in the mechanism and kinetics of the thermo-oxidation processes. These changes are supported by oxygen dissolved in oil, what leads to decrease both to gases formation CO2, CO, H2, CH4, C2H4 and C2H6) and furans products (5-HMF, 2-FOL, 2 -FAL and 2-ACF). The painting materials investigated during the heat treatment applied did not suffer any remarkable structural changes affecting their functionality in the electro-insulating fluid based on vegetable esters.

ATR / FTIR and DSC techniques have been used to evaluate the thermal stability of some ageing paint materials by heat treatment while immersion in natural ester-based electro-insulating oil. Experimental determinations have highlighted the fact that the investigated paint materials (epoxy resins) have a high oxygen affinity and thus, in closed systems (such as power transformers), they oxidize before coming into contact with the transformer oil. This behavior indicates that the paint layer (suitably chosen) applied on the inside of the transformer vat functions as an antioxidant and results in increasing the thermal stability of the oil.

This paper describes the evaluation of the aging process of some polymeric painting materials subjected to a thermal treatment in electro insulating fluids, based on natural esters (vegetable oils). The paint layers surface morphology was comparatively characterized by FESEM technique, prior to the exposure, and after 1000 h of exposure to vegetable oil, heated at 130oC. The results show a substantial increase in the pulling resistances for all the painting materials subjected to this investigation, especially in the presence of the Kraft insulating paper and copper foil (inserted compulsory to emulate the actual working environment), due to an increase in the painting material adhesion, as well as an increase of the tensile strength of the paint layer. These findings may open new theoretical and practical research prospects, particularly in the field of preliminary treatments for materials used for heavy duty industrial transformers.

The behaviour of copper and insulation paper in various electrical insulating fluids (transformer oils) exposed to thermal ageing at 110�30C for 1000 hours in closed vessels (without access to atmospheric oxygen) has been studied. The processing of the comparative experimental data revealed in all cases that the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the investigated oils decreases exponentially during the heat treatment. In the presence of the copper foil, the oxygen is almost depleted (the dissolved oxygen concentration is approaching zero), indicating a higher affinity of the copper to oxygen than the affinity to oxygen of the investigated oils. In the presence of the copper foil and / or of the insulation paper, the degradation processes of the mineral oils have a pronounced character, explained by the catalytic activity of the Cu2O film that has been formed and by the paper degradation, respectively. A high thermo-oxidative stability was noticed in the case of natural triglyceride oils, particularly for the synthetic ester-based oil.

The amounts of flammable gases formed in some transformer oils during the long-term storage (1000 hours) at 110 � 3�C in closed containers (limited access to atmospheric oxygen) were determined qualitatively and quantitatively by gas chromatography technique. The comparative experimental results showed that when two types of mineral oils, one synthetic oil and two types of vegetable oils are in simultaneously contact with copper and insulating paper, the total amount of flammable gases formed by thermal aging is about 40 times higher in the mineral oils than in the ester based oils. It has also been established that the electrical-use copper foil catalyses the formation processes of the flammable gases, the maximum effect being for the mineral oils (an increase of 8 times of ethane and 25 times for methane gases). It has further been observed that the contact with the insulating paper during the thermal treatment of the ester based oils does not influence the formation of flammable gases, compared with the mineral oils where the amount of the formed gases is doubled.