Molecular Dynamic Simulation and Experimental Study on Gases' Diffusion Characteristics and Coefficients in Transformer Oil

In power transformers, the degradation of the insulating oil due to aging, overheating, and electric discharge leads to the production of characteristic gases including H₂, CH₄, C₂H₂ , C₂H₄, C₂H₆, CO, and CO₂. The composition and concentration of these gases provide valuable insights into the operational condition of the transformer. Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) is a vital diagnostic and predictive technique for transformer faults, which is closely associated with the transportation of gases in the oil through convection and diffusion. This study employs a combination of molecular dynamics simulation and experimental measurement to determine the diffusion coefficients D of the seven characteristic gases in a naphthenic mineral oil across a range of temperature (T= 20 °-90 °C) and dc electric field strength (E= 0-3 kV/mm). The calculated and measured results of the diffusion coefficients exhibit a strong agreement, demonstrating a positive correlation with temperature following D\∝ e^-a/T , in which the influence from a weak dc electric field ranging from 0 to 3 kV/mm could be negligible.