Ricerc@Sapienza

The 2016-2018 ongoing revision of the lEC 60156 'Insulating liquids - Determination of the breakdown voltage at power frequency' was just approved and the revised standard will be published by the end of 2018. This document will include the recommended use of a stirring system with the main purpose to reduce the scatter in the ac breakdown voltage results.

In the framework of the activities of the Italian Institutional Working Group on Natural Esters, smoke production under controlled fire conditions of such innovative insulating liquids has been studied in comparison with that released by traditional mineral oil, normally used in electrical power transformers. This comparison has been made in terms of solid particulates, carbon monoxide (CO), Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Aldehydes in different conditions of greater or lower presence of atmospheric oxygen.

The Calabria region of Southern Italy is rich in mineralisation. Unfortunately, no consistent data are available about mineral exploitation in the later prehistoric periods. The Grotta della Monaca mine in Calabria is a prehistoric site that is characterised by the mineralisation of iron ores (such as goethite) and copper carbonates (malachite and azurite). For this reason, the site provides an exceptional opportunity to study a prehistoric mine in which several minerals were exploited during the late Neolithic and early Chalcolithic.

Different specialty extra virgin oils, produced by cold-pressing fruits/nuts (olive, pequi, palm, avocado, coconut,
macadamia and Brazil nut) and seeds (grapeseed and canola), and retailed in the Brazilian region of Minas
Gerais, were chemically characterized. Specifically, for each type of oil, the fatty acid composition was elucidated
by GC-FID, the contents of selected polyphenols and squalene were determined respectively by UHPLC-MS
and UHPLC-PDA, whereas minerals were explored by means of ICP-MS. Olive oil was confirmed to have the