Developing Electrical Insulating Materials from Renewable Biological Sources:The Case for Havea Brasiliensis Latex

摘要

The search for renewable and sustainable sources of high grade insulating materials has been on for many years. Biological sources of insulating materials have the dual advantage of being renewable and sustainable. Plant sources have the additional advantage of being easily grown, multiplied, modified, processed and controlled. The study presents, an experimental investigation to determine the insulation classification of Havea Brasiliensis (Natural Rubber) latex and its suitability for use as machine insulating material for high temperature operations. Samples of the processed latex were subjected to heat-run in a sealed industrial oven. The insulation resistances of the samples were measured at regular temperature intervals until the given sample burns out. The measured values of weight, insulation resistance and temperature are shown in tables. The variation of insulation resistance with temperature is plotted in a curve. From the experimental results, at the class A limiting temperature of 105℃, the insulation resistance was 3 MΩ, which is unacceptable for that class of insulation. At the class Y limiting temperature of 90℃, the latex had a robust insulation resistance of 10 MΩ. Thus, it should be classified as a class Y insulating material. It could thus serve as a viable, cheap, renewable and sustainable source of insulating materials for lower temperature electrical machine operations.