Transformer oil – e-lesson #15 – Emergence of methanol as a chemical marker for paper degradation
Hosted by: C. S. Narasimhan / Master's level
Live lesson is scheduled for May 7th at 2 pm CET at Transformers Academy.
The content of this lesson is fully vendor-agnostic, but it is sponsored by Ergon.
This lesson focused on the emergence of methanol as a chemical marker for monitoring paper degradation in transformers. It compared methanol to other markers like furan and ethanol, highlighting methanol’s ability to detect early-stage degradation. The presentation discussed analytical techniques for measuring methanol, as well as factors affecting its stability and distribution between paper and oil. Several field case studies were presented to demonstrate the practical application of methanol monitoring. The lesson emphasized the need for transformer fleets with similar design and operating conditions for meaningful data interpretation. Challenges around methanol levels after oil processing and the importance of monitoring rate of change were also covered. Overall, the lesson positioned methanol as a valuable complement to traditional markers like furan for assessing transformer paper health.
The lesson is conducted on the Mater’s level and after the live broadcasting, it stays available on demand. It is intended for utility engineers/chemists, transformer and oil manufacturers, students and faculty of educational institutes, oil testing laboratories, utility staff, etc.
The lesson #15 deals with emergence of methanol as a chemical marker for paper degradation.
Join us and learn!
About the author
C. S. Narasimhan
Dr. Narasimhan holds PhD in chemistry from a premier institute IIT Madras, Chennai (India), with a long experience of about 40 years. He has been working in corporate R&D centers of multinational companies ever since he completed his PhD in 1978.
He was heading R&D at Savita Oil Technologies in Mumbai for 20 years, until his recent retirement.
His R&D work includes: developing a variety of grades of transformer oils based on paraffinic oils, naphthenic oils, natural esters and synthetic esters,
application development in transformers, developing additives for transformer oils, studying oxidation behavior, moisture dynamics in oil-filled transformers, studies on dielectric properties of mineral oils and esters (impulse & power frequency), insulation paper ageing studies in mineral oils and ester oils published papers in the recent ICDL conference in Rome and 9 papers in IEEE conferences on dielectric properties of ester oils and mineral oils, and more.
He has published more than 30 papers, of which 15 are on transformer oils, and is proud of his six patents.
He has been an invited speaker at conferences in India and abroad, as well as delivered lectures at seminars conducted by Weidman in Europe. He is a member of two IEC committees on oil standards and a member of two CIGRE committees on oils.