Thermophysical investigation of natural convection in power transformer with Nano-oil using lattice Boltzmann method

Abstract

Considering the vital role transformers perform in power distribution networks, it is significant that transformer oil's thermal performance be enhanced. Furthermore, a transformer's core temperature affects how well it performs electrically. This study, which presents a two-dimensional model of a transformer, explores theoretically and simulates the natural convection heat transfer of a nano-oil sample containing an Fe3O4 nanoparticle in the base fluid of Naphthenic oil using the lattice Boltzmann method and D2Q9 model. For nanoparticle volume fractions of 0% to 5% and Rayleigh numbers of 103 to 105, modelling and solutions were carried out and, in this range, temperature contours and Nusselt number average are provided. Based on the results of this investigation, the transformer core's cooling performance has been enhanced by the addition of nanoparticles to the base fluid. Furthermore, by raising the nanoparticles' volume fraction and Rayleigh number, the natural convection heat transfer was improved. When compared to pure Naphthenic oil, the heat transfer has improved when using Naphthenic-Fe3O4 nano-oil, which has the greatest Nusselt number average of 13.09 at a volume fraction of 5% and Rayleigh number of 105.