Effect of Fullerene Nanoparticles on the Electrostatic Charging Tendency of Natural Ester FR3

This work aims to study the electrostatic charging tendency (ECT) of nanofluids (NFs) based-natural ester; the base liquid is FR3 from Cargill and nanoparticles are fullerene (C
60
). For comparison purposes, two concentrations of NPs are considered, namely 0.3 and 0.4 g/L (0.03 wt.% and 0.04 wt.%); those concentrations having shown the best performances regarding AC breakdown voltage and partial discharge activity. An improved preparation procedure of nanofluids (NFs) and the electrostatic charging tendency (ECT) test cell are presented. This latter consists of a spinning disk covered on both sides by the tested solid insulator, immersed in the investigated liquid; four different speed rates are addressed (200 rpm, 400 rpm, 600 rpm, and 700 rpm). The results show that the addition of C
60
considerably reduces the ECT of natural ester FR3, whatever the doping concentration and the disk speed rates.