Ricerc@Sapienza

Natural esters for electrical applications are universally recognized as environmentally friendly and less impact on non-renewable resources consumption. In the framework of an Institutional Group promoted by the University of Roma 'La Sapienza', the National Firefighters Authority, the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL) and the Department for Geological Survey of Italy (ISPRA) there were performed several experimental comparative fire/smoke simulations of both mineral and natural ester liquids.

In recent times, the use of natural esters (vegetable fluids) in power transformers is having a considerable increase due to their advantages in terms of high flash/fire points, lower toxicity, higher biodegradability and possibility of recycling. This paper presents an experimental comparative evaluation on fire ignition of both mineral oil and natural esters in different experimental conditions.